It attracted global attention when it launched in the summer of 2023, with news outlets such as CNN and Euronews reporting that Ireland’s “gorgeous islands” were going to “pay” new residents $90,000/€80,000 to move there through the Our Living Islands scheme.
Australia’s news.com said expats were being offered $140,000 to “pack up and relax into remote island life”, while the Miami Herald told its readers they could “earn” $90,000 by moving to one of Ireland’s remote islands.
On the back of this, the Department of Rural and Community Development pointed to “significant international interest” in the new policy aimed at revitalising the numbers living on offshore islands.
However, despite such hyperbole in the global media, new figures from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage show that interest in the scheme may have been lower than expected.
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Since it launched in June 2023, just 29 applications for Our Living Islands, which offers a souped up grant of up to €84,000, have been received by the department. Of these, 20 have been approved – which could mean then, if not an influx of people to Ireland’s offshore islands, then a steady tide of new residents.
The grant is available under the Croí Cónaithe scheme for those looking to renovate properties on the islands. Applicants must use the property as their home, and not for a holiday rental.
There are 23 islands covered by the scheme, including Arranmore, Bere Island, Inishbofin, Heir Island and Clare Island, and it is due to run until 2033.
While a breakdown per island is not available, figures from the department show that Donegal (11), home to islands such as Tory Island as well as Arranmore, has attracted the most applications to date, followed by Cork (10); Galway (4); Mayo (2); and Sligo (2).
On Arranmore, which had a population of almost 500 according to the last census in 2022, Adrian Begley, of the island’s community council, says there has been interest in the scheme, both from existing residents and new – or returning – people.
“They are changing the community with new faces, new skills and new ideas,” Begley says, adding that such schemes are a “a huge benefit, a shot in the arm for our communities and diaspora”.
Arranmore has a bit of a head start on other locations, in that it launched its digital hub campaign back in 2019, in an effort to attract so-called digital nomads.
“We were getting emails every 30 seconds of people wanting to move to Arranmore,” Begley says, noting that many of those getting in touch had read the headlines and thought “we had jobs for everyone around the world, free houses to give away, free land – none of it was true”.
Once potential applicants read the small print, the reality can appear quite different.
“The thing is, it doesn’t matter where you want to move, there are hoops you have to jump through,” Begley says, pointing to issues around employment visas, planning restrictions, as well as the cost of transport to the mainland.
“It’s almost like a toll at the end of your road when you have to get the ferry,” he says.
And there are issues around the Living Islands scheme itself, which is not as straight forward as those headlines might have suggested.
“You have to prove you own the house, you have to do the renovations ... there is a lot more to it than just putting in the application,” says Begley.
