European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 23, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday november 23, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 17 a i Ireland s offshore islanders fight to preserve Way of life by Boris Weintraub National geographic t he Boatman gestured at the Irish Mainland which rec Dedas his Little boat bounced Over the Waves to the tiny Island some eight Miles offshore. We re not part of Ireland Jimmy Doohan said referring to himself and the 147 other residents of tory Island. That s Ireland Over there. We re part of the North sea or the Atlantic. We re not part of Ireland at  Doohan May have been half oking but the next morning another islander expressed a startling View that indicated just How alienated the islanders feel. The Irish government they Don t care if we survive or die said Jimmie Duggan. If we were under the English the Way we were in the past we d be better cared for than we Are in the Irish  intend i surrounded by islands. Many Are merely rocks uninhabitable except by seals or seabirds. Others like the great Blanket off county Kerry or county Donegal s Gola Are ghost islands depopulated in the last few decades. Nearly a score of others remain inhabited. But their future is Uncertain imperilled by economic distress by the difficulty of sustaining life away from the Mainland and by isolation from the political economic and Tojal mainstream. This alone would be a serious problem. But it is compounded by cultural and linguistic issues that go to the heart of the existence of an Independent Ireland. Many inhabited islands precisely because of their isolation Are among the few areas collectively known As the Gael acht where Irish not English remains the predominant language and where traditional Irish culture is struggling to survive. Since Independence from Britain was achieved in 1922, Irish governments have made the preservation of Irish speaking enclaves a Basic policy. A government department and a government financed development Agency Deal with the preservation of predominantly Irish speaking areas. Both follow a single full Dong principle help Irish speaking citizens economically so that they will stay where they Are. Thus the dilemma. To remove the population from an Irish speaking Island would be to wipe out yet another locality where traditional Ireland is preserved. But when one out of six Irish workers is unemployed and the bankruptcy of private employers is an almost Dally feature of the 9 o clock news How much Are taxpayers willing to spend on the relatively few islanders to keep them there different islands have had differing rates of Success in maintaining viable communities. For example. Ireland s largest Island. Achill is connected to the rest of county Mayo by a Bridge of just 200 Yards. Thus though its 50 Square Miles Are largely made up of peat bogs and spectacular Seaside Cliffs Achill has 3,000 residents who live Little differently from Maln Landers. The three Ann islands present a different picture. Inishmore the largest is served by several terries daily including four privately operated boats that make the 10-mile crossing from the county Galway Mainland in about an hour. As a result of that and the islands Fame there is a steady Stream of visitors and the opportunistic islanders have been Quick to take advantage. Visitors can rent bicycles. Drivers of vans and Pony traps offer Tours of the Island and its magnificent antiquities. There Are restaurants gift shops and several guesthouses one of which has a videocassette Library stocked not Only with Man Ola ran but with of god Patton and 11 James Bond films. In shaman and in sheer the two smaller aran islands have fewer tourists and a More traditional life. Taken together though the aran islands population has held fairly steady dipping Only slightly from 1,499 in 1971 to 1,368 in 1981. Other islands have experienced a Boom recently because of the introduction of regular ferry service. The 164 residents of Cape Clear three Miles off the Southwest coast of county Cork now have a ferry provided and operated by the government department of the Gael acht. County Donegal s Arra More Island where the population increased from 773 in 1971 to 803 in 1981, has a ferry owned by Uda is a Gael Achta the stale supported Gael acht authority making the two mile run Between Island and Mainland. But if regular lorry service and. In the Case of the aran islands regular air service provided by Are Arann a firm partially owned by Mudaras a Gael Achta which also subsidizes the plane fares of Island residents is taken for granted on some islands no such amenities exist on tory Island off the county Donegal Mainland.  part of tour. The  begin to Dur tag the Isth act Turr fico let and my dirt of Miny hot Nanod to the Mamond in recent Decad i u the Sunh lift became too Nizich for them. Matt Lilandia re North and it to of them Inead no Mort the to Miles Ethem. Nuny of or into Thirzah word for Lind. Instead tory presents the difficulty of Island Ille at its most extreme and poses most sharply the questions concerning the future of the inhabited islands. Less than three Miles Long and about Hall a mile wide tory is Ireland s most northwesterly Island. So Strong is the wind that there Are no Trees heavy seas particularly in Winter can prevent boats from crossing to the Mainland for weeks. Perhaps it is a trick of psychology but the Island looks much closer from the Mainland than the Mainland does from the Island. Much of tory is played out bog land where nothing can grow. Though there Are some cultivated Fields few crops Are grown. The Island has one car a handful of cows a few sheep some donkeys and innumerable chickens. Its larger Community West town surrounds a pier built during English Rule its Lew dozen houses huddle together As if for warmth. East town about three fourths of a mile away is smaller but similar. The islanders derive what income they earn from fishing Lor Salmon lobster and Dogfish. But the fishing season is Short from late May to late August or Early september. As a result virtually the entire Island receives Public assistance. Maybe the next generation will get the Harbor says Ellush Rodgers whose husband has a share in one of the Island boats and who rents two rooms to tory s infrequent visitors making her the Island s entire tourist Industry. Rodgers May be the most realistic. An official Survey of the Harbor project concluded that the Cost could be As High As 2 million Irish pounds $2.2 million. And that says Gael acht minister Paddy o Toole is simply out of the question. Let me be quite Blunt says o Toole in his fill floor Dublin Ollice. We have looked at this and in present financial circumstances despite the Good will that would accrue to the nation by having Island people like the tory islanders slay where they Are there is a Price to be put on that. I Don t envisage the possibility of the taxpayers of this country being prepared to pay that  o Toole s reference to Good will is implicit recognition of the Rev Diarmuid o Pelcin 69, tory s priest Lor four years before he was replaced in 1984. Instead of going quietly father o be icon. Who admits that his Only real weapon is to Embarrass the authorities travelled the world on behalf of tory and helped organize a Council of representatives of 16 inhabited islands. Father o be icon maintains that the diabolical authorities have a deliberate policy of running tory Down falling to develop its resources then pressuring its residents to move to the Mainland by offering free housing there. About 50 did leave in 1981, and the priest says that another 50 were slated to go in 1982. By mid-1982, the curtain was closing Down on  he says. We held those second 50, and hat was the great achievement of 1982. They  father o Pelcin has Allied himself with former prime minister Charles j. Haughey Lader of the opposition Flanna fall party a has appointed a committee to study the needs of offshore islands. Haughey said in an interview that most of Ireland s islanders want simple facilities nothing