‘Islanders’ – a forgotten way of life
From Arranmore in Co Donegal, to Whiddy Island in Cork via Inisturk in Co Mayo, a new four-part series produced by TV3 documents a way of life that is rapidly disappearing.
Arranmore, Co Donegal. Empty and derelict homes underpin a declining population due to an erosion of the inshore fishing industry
The series begins on Inisturk (14/04 TV3, 9pm), 14km off the Mayo coast and home to just 55 residents, including Bríd Heanue and her son Nathan. Bríd’s older son Chris lives and schools on the mainland. With no secondary school on Inisturk, Nathan will be leaving the island in September. It is a day Bríd dreads:
“That’s a very emotional subject with me…All of our family are going to find that hard.”
The series premier also visits Bantry Bay, and Whiddy Island in Co Cork – home to twenty-two people, including two contrasting brothers: fisherman Danny and Tim O’Leary who is the island’s publican, ferryman and postman.
With many twists and turns, lslanders will follow the lives and stories of many of the island’s residents over a tumultous year, to learn what threatens their survival, to discover a different way of life and to share in what it means to be an islander.
