Courtmacsherry fights back against isolation

A picturesque seaside village is fighting back against the growing problem of rural isolation — with the planned provision of a community shop.

Courtmacsherry in West Cork once boasted its own railway station, dance hall, cinema, petrol station and some 17 shops. Over the summer, the village’s last shop closed. But locals are fighting back, says Dara Gannon whose family has lived in the village for 50 years. There are proposals to establish a community shop which will be provisioned, run and managed by locals.

A business executive with the General Electric company, father-of-two Mr Gannon says the closure of the village shop was generally viewed with dismay.