West Cork islands 'at risk of the loss of entire communities' due to housing crisis

The islands of West Cork look idyllic but a major UCC study — incorporating the views of half the population there — points to chronic issues facing people who live on them

Bere Island. File picture

The West Cork islands are facing their own housing crisis and “there is the risk, over time, of the loss of entire island communities, and, with them, the vital contribution of the islands to Ireland’s heritage, culture, and economy”.

The co-author of new research into housing on the seven inhabited islands said they face an “existential threat” from issues such as supply, maintenance, and affordability.

The report calls for a full-scale housing audit and population targets.

A project team looked at the impact of the availability, affordability, and quality of housing on the sustainability of the seven inhabited West Cork islands and found that the lack of affordable, quality housing — both to buy and to rent — is impacting the ability of the islands to attract newcomers and retain inhabitants and the next generation of islanders.

Report co-author Siobhan O’Sullivan says 'Islands... have significant cultural, environmental and economic interests, but something has to be done to sustain them.' File picture

“This is a significant issue, which threatens the future of the islands as locations for full-time habitation.”

The seven islands — Bere, Dursey, Heir, Long, Oileán Chléire, Sherkin, and Whiddy — had a total population of 495 in 2016, with a decline in residents in most of them and Dursey “threatened with permanent depopulation”.

The report, ‘Housing and Sustaining Communities on the West Cork Islands’, was written by Siobhan O’Sullivan and Elaine Desmond of the School of Applied Social Studies and Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century at University College Cork.

Incorporating the views of island residents, the report said there needs to be more social and affordable homes and sheltered housing on the islands, “addressing the precarity of renters on the islands”, as well as tackling the issue of derelict houses by increasing grant thresholds and appointing a vacant homes officer for the islands, alongside increasing grants for retrofitting to enhance the quality and energy efficiency of islanders’ homes.

Dursey Island off the Beara Peninsula in West Cork. Picture Dan Linehan

The report also found that residents already living on the islands want a new resettlement fund and a gateway housing scheme incorporating full-time housing options for those wishing to settle on the islands. 

Other measures included better ferry services, enhanced broadband, and schooling.

“On the West Cork islands, this housing crisis is occurring in small communities in contexts already beset by concerns of permanent depopulation,” said the report.

“Unlike the mainland, if the housing situation on the islands is not resolved, there is the risk, over time, of the loss of entire island communities, and, with them, the vital contribution of the islands to Ireland’s heritage, culture, and economy.

"Strongly focussed policy in the key areas identified in this report, which is implemented in close collaboration with island residents, is now urgently required, if the ongoing sustainability of full-time populations on the West Cork islands is to be secured.”

Beach on Heir Island, Co Cork, looking towards Cape Clear. To read Dan MacCarthy's continuing series in the 'Irish Examiner' on the islands of Ireland, visit exa.mn/Islands online. Picture: Dan MacCarthy

Ms O’Sullivan said the islands faced a variety of challenges, including an aging population, and that housing problems offered an “existential threat”.

“Islands are an integral part of the state’s heritage, they have significant cultural, environmental and economic interests, but something has to be done to sustain them,” she said.

Rental woes 

Islanders in West Cork love where they live but increasingly there are worries over housing, particularly among renters, with issues ranging from rot and damp to lack of availability and some feeling threatened by the prospect of homelessness.

The townland of Paris on Heir Island, Co Cork. File picture: Terri Kearney

The new UCC report to be launched next month takes an in-depth look at housing issues on the seven inhabited West Cork islands — Bere, Dursey, Heir, Long, Oileán Chléire, Sherkin, and Whiddy — and finds that a string of issues is holding back population growth, or putting the islands at risk of greater depopulation.

The report by Siobhan O’Sullivan and Elaine Desmond incorporates the views of 238 people, totalling almost half of permanent residents aged 18 and over.

Most owned their property, more than half were married, and the highest proportion of respondents had been living on the islands for between five and 14 years. Some worked remotely but 60% had work on the island where they lived.

Just 5% rated their island as a poor place to live and many highlighted the sense of community on the islands, including the close connection of second-home owners to the islands, with one stating: “The community is as much those who spend part of their lives here as those who are full-time.”

Dursey fisherman photographed circa 1915 on their way to the fishing grounds. Picture: Thomas Barker/Irish Examiner Archive

Similarly, few if any respondents felt cut off; according to one resident: “It’s remoteness, but not isolation.”

Yet the housing crisis is not unique to the mainland.

More than half of respondents lived in properties that had been built almost 80 years ago and while most respondents were very satisfied (39%) or satisfied (41%) with their living arrangements, those who rented their homes on the islands expressed more dissatisfaction.

Among renters, 31% did not consider their home to be worth the rent paid and 46% were experiencing difficulty in meeting monthly rental costs, with a third expressing concern over accessing rental supports.

The cable car on Dursey Island. File picture: Eamonn Farrell

“The lack of rental security was a concern for 58% of respondents renting their home, with 46% stating that they had no formal written lease/tenancy agreement,” it said. 

"These findings highlight the particular precarity of renters on the West Cork islands."

A quarter of respondents expressed concerns about moving to the island in relation to the quality of broadband and access to services, in particular healthcare, as they age, and there were further concerns. More than a third expressed some dissatisfaction with the standard/condition of their homes, rising to 42% of renters.

“The top problems were difficulties with carrying out maintenance/upkeep themselves [a total of 68% of respondents stated this was a problem] and difficulties keeping the house warm [65%]," the report states. 

An aerial view of Oileán Chléire (Cape Clear Island). File picture 

"More than half of respondents [52%] stated that difficulties with the cost of upkeep were a problem, while almost half of all participants highlighted problems with damp in their homes [44%].” 

Significant proportions of respondents highlighted problems with keeping their homes warm, as well as a shortage of space, and in some cases rot in windows, doors, and floors.

“When renters were asked specifically about the factors that concern or impact them regarding renting on the islands, 69% said that the condition of rental properties was a concern,” it says. 

Choppy waters: Rough seas around Long Island as viewed from Goleen in West Cork. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

In addition, 82% of respondents identified challenges with finding people to undertake home maintenance. 

One participant said: “It’s almost impossible now to get tradesmen, it’s impossible to get a gardener, and it’s impossible to get people who could support older people living on the island.”

Other major problems were the lack of availability of houses for sale (86% of respondents), too many derelict houses (84%), and a lack of availability of houses for year-round rental (81%).

Many respondents were concerned about challenges with obtaining planning permission (77%) and limited availability of land for building new houses (71%). 

Cape Clear Ferries announced earlier this year it was upgrading its West Cork fleet. File picture

“Large numbers also stated that there were problems with too many second homes (71%) and too many empty habitable homes (69%), while council-owned land left undeveloped was highlighted as a problem by 43%,” it states.

“Of the questions directed at renters only, 86% of renters said they were impacted by the lack of suitable housing for long-term rent [86%] and the length of time on the council housing waiting list [67%]," the report states. 

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

"Several renters in the survey wrote about the precarity they are experiencing in relation to renting on the islands, with some having to leave the islands or facing the prospect of homelessness.”

• The report, Housing and Sustaining Communities on the West Cork Islands will be launched next month.

• Also see Dan MacCarthy's continuing series of articles, Islands of Ireland.