The State paid €2m for a majority stake-holding in the Great Blasket a decade ago, which then-environment minister, John Gormley, considered good value, given the island’s cultural importance and its potential as a tourist attraction.

Pan Andean plc, an explorer and producer of oil and gas in South America and in the US, has announced drilling has commenced on the 50%-Pan Andean owned High Island lease in the Gulf of Mexico in offshore Texas.