Tiny school on stunning Irish island with clear water, dolphins & turtles issued urgent appeal as it faces closure
Scoil Naisiunta Inis Chleire is a historic Irish-speaking primary school situated on the island of Cape Clear off the coast of West
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The appeal comes after only three children enrolled in the next school year
The 129-year-old
It echoes appeals made in 2018, when the school's only two teachers retired.
Now fears that Ireland's southernmost Gaeltacht island primary school could close have resurfaced.
As a result, the local community development organisation, Comharchumann Chleire Teo, has launched a campaign aimed at bringing
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Amenities such cheap long-term rental accommodation and fibre broadband are being advertised in an attempt to draw visitors to the island.
A €35,000-a-year tourist manager job is also being offered, in order to manage the Cape Clear Fastnet Experience and Heritage Centre, a site which received €1million from Failte Ireland and Udaras na Gaeltachta last year.
While families with a competent level of Irish are considered favourable, the island is also keen to attract families from various backgrounds and nationalities.
The island, notably already boasts a varied community, with residents from France, Germany, Ukraine,
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Cape Clear's island development agency manager, Kevin McCann, and his board are currently offering two low-cost rental properties for September as an incentive for young families to move to the island.
Mr McCann said to the Irish Examiner: "We don't expect people to stay forever, although that would be nice. But we do want to encourage anybody with young children and preferably at least one person who wants to be a school principal to come and join our community."
NEWCOMERS NEEDED
He added: "Island life is not for everyone. But what they will get here is a wonderful sense of community and people do rely on each other here more than in the bigger, more urban areas."
Residents like McCann worry that a closure of the school would threaten the island's viability.
The island currently boasts a local bus service, a public library, a public health nurse, two pubs, and its own postal service.
However, with the number of
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The 129-year-old school is one of the last Island primary schools in the country
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The school is currently in need of a new principal teacher, and students in order to remain open
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