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Irish Examiner
6 days ago
- Irish Examiner
West Cork island seeks new head teacher — and more children to help keep its school open
Urgent appeals have been launched to help save one of Ireland's last remaining island primary schools. Scoil Náisiúnta Inis Chléire on Cape Clear needs a new principal teacher — but the West Cork island also needs children. In return, island chiefs are offering, among other things, cheap long-term rental accommodation. The last time the school board ran an appeal for a principal was in 2018, when the 129-year-old school's two teachers retired. Their retirements came at a time when the falling number of children enrolled in the school sparked fears — which have resurfaced again — that Ireland's southernmost Gaeltacht island primary school could close. The local community development organisation, Comharchumann Chléire Teo, has launched a campaign for families with school-age children to come and live on the island as a result. Tourism manager job As well as the teaching post being advertised by the school's board, there is also a €35,000-a-year tourist manager job up for grabs. This is to manage the Cape Clear Fastnet Experience and Heritage Centre, which received €1m from Fáilte Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta last year to help the island operate as a 'last stop' gateway destination for tourists keen to visit the Fastnet Lighthouse 6.5km southwest of Cape Clear. Cape Clear Harbour. See links at the foot of this article including one to Neil Michael's photo-essay on Oileán Chléire. File picture: Neil Mchael Young families with 'a competency in Irish' will be considered favourably. But the island is also keen to attract young families from all backgrounds to join a community that hosts more than eight other nationalities, including people from France, Germany, Ukraine, America, and Scotland. Low-cost housing for young families By way of incentive, Cape Clear's island development agency manager Kevin McCann and his board is also offering two low-cost rental properties for young families with school-age children, due to be ready for occupation by September. Mr McCann said: '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. If people can commit to trying us out for a year, that would be great. 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. 'We are worried that if we have to close the school, it will threaten the viability of the island. "A functioning school is a very key part of any vibrant community. "Thankfully, we still have one, but we need to think about its future viability.' One of the teachers who replaced those who retired in 2018 has since left the island, which has a population of around 100 people — many of whom are over 65. Just three children enrolled The number of children enrolled for the next school year is down to just three, from eight in 2020 and 15 in 2015. A boy and two girls who joined in September 2020 —just three weeks after their parents first set foot on the island — have since returned to their home in Kerry. A Syrian family, which had moved to the island under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme, has also relocated to the mainland. While the one shop on the island is well stocked 'with the basics', deliveries from Skibbereen's SuperValu arrive at Cape Clear three days a week. 'Pretty decent' broadband Mr McCann also points out that people can bring their cars onto the island. With fibre broadband connection points for most houses expected to be in place by around October, he said the island can boast a 'pretty decent' broadband service. It also has at least two daily return sailings all year round, a daily local bus service, a public library, a public health nurse, two pubs, and its own postal service. 'Apart from anything else, the island is a beautiful place to live,' said Mr McCann, who moved to the island over 30 years ago with his family as a result of an appeal in the 1990s. 'Yes, it can be a bit wild at times, but that just adds to the charm and beauty of the place.' • Families considering a move to Oileán Chléire should visit and email bainisteoir1ccteo@ Anyone interested in applying for the school principal's job should visit and email snchleire@
Irish Examiner
04-07-2025
- Climate
- Irish Examiner
Midleton residents fear repeat flooding as storm protection barriers delayed again
When Noreen and Liam Motherway plan a break away, the first thing they do is consult a small book. It is the Union Chandlery South of Ireland Tide Tables. They have not left Ireland since Storm Babet floods swept through their 19th-century riverside house in Midleton in October 2023. Liam and Noreen Motherway have not left Ireland since Storm Babet floods swept through their 19th-century riverside house in Midleton in October 2023. Picture: Neil Michael But before they even dream of being away from the house for even a few hours, they consult the small, pocket-sized book. 'We don't go anywhere without consulting it first,' Noreen said. 'It lets us know when there is a high tide and low tide.' Semi-retired GP Liam, whose practice is in an adjoining building, added: 'The river is tidal, so we are used to it getting high and low twice a day.' They sustained around €100,000 worth of damage during Storm Babet, and the builders only left last month. Because they were badly hit by a flood in 2015, they no longer had any flood insurance, so they have had to cover most of the cost themselves. Liam and Noreen Motherway sustained around €100,000 worth of damage during Storm Babet, and the builders only left last month. Picture: Neil Michael Their hearts sank when they watched from the safety of their stairs to the second floor as water levels gradually rose on the ground floor during Storm Babet. With them were the couple's three dogs - their blind 11-year-old Samoyed dog Pixie, and their two Japanese Spitz dogs Ryo and Bobbie. What they described as 'modest' 2ft-high flood defences for the property's doors and windows a carpenter installed after the 2015 flood failed to hold back the water during Storm Babet. Like anybody who was badly hit in the storm, the Motherways start getting anxious about the weather as October approaches again. Little wonder when you remember the devastation the town and surrounding areas endured. Aerial photographs taken by Guileen Coast Guard published in Ireland and around the world showed the shocking extent of the flooding, with all main routes in and out and most open spaces completely submerged under water. An aerial view of Connolly Street leading up to Midleton Library, on the town's Main Street, during Storm Babet in October 2023. Photo: Guileen Coast Guard unit Local TD James O'Connor described the flash floods as 'biblical'. Around 600 houses were damaged, along with around 300 businesses, some of which have since closed for good. The total cost of the damage wrecked by Storm Babet is estimated to be around €200m. Work by the council since has included making sure drains are being cleared, and dredging sections of the Owenacurra River. An aerial photo of Connolly Street leading up to Midleton Library on the town's Main Street. Picture: Neil Michael But also like so many like the Motherways, anxiety is tinged with a degree of anger. This is because nearly two years after Storm Babet, they and hundreds of others are still waiting for the full roll-out of the Midleton and East Cork Individual Property Protection (IPP) Scheme. Due to begin in 'early 2025', it is still some way off being completed, with just 100 of the 2,000 barriers due to be installed delivered already. Funded by the Office of Public Works (OPW) to the tune of €5.8m, the scheme is to install flood defence barrier systems at front and back doors and low windows. 'We have been measured four times already for the domestic flood barriers and we have been told we will be measured again,' Liam said. 'But we still haven't been told when anybody is coming to do the remedial works. We get a sense that there is a major lack of urgency around the flooding issue. 'The council needs to do what it promised to do, which is to get the IPPs for people and hurry up.' Vivienne Jeffers: 'I felt I couldn't protect my children.' Picture: Neil Michael Vivienne Jeffers agrees. She breaks down when she describes how she felt when the home she shares in nearby Mogeely with her two young children, Daniel, aged 10, and Chloe, aged eight, and husband Shane, flooded. 'It was just me and my children when the house flooded at the time because Shane was at work and the kids were both sick,' she recalls. 'The first I knew about a flood was when someone on our estate's WhatsApp group said they needed sandbags and I looked out my window and realised the water in the street outside the house was too deep to try and drive the car through it. 'So I started grabbing things, towels from upstairs and trying to stop the water coming in the door. 'But it came flooding in. It happened so fast, and rushed into the house, and there was nothing I could do to stop it coming in. 'The floor boards by the door popped and blocked my front door. It was dirty brown manure water. Vivienne Jeffers gets emotional when she recalls her home in Mogeely being flooded during Storm Babet in 2023. Picture: Neil Michael 'As the water rose above the electric points in the house, I realised 'Oh my God, we could all get electrocuted'.' Vivienne, who was only able to leave the house with her children through a downstairs window, starts to fight back tears as she recalled: 'I felt I couldn't protect my children. 'Nearly two years on, I am still stuck in fight or flight mode. 'I'll never forget the levels of the water, and then wading out with it up past my waist as I held onto my son after I got him out of the house and my husband took our daughter out.' Like the Motherways, they too are waiting for their flood barriers. So worried is she that her home will again be flooded, she has made a hole in the hedge in her back garden so she can get herself and her children out of the garden quickly. Vivienne Jeffers has made a hole in the hedge in her back garden so she can get herself and her children out of the garden quickly. Picture: Neil Michael The hole is also so she can get out into the field and check to see if there is any flooding in the area. Cork County Council was asked about concerns around the amount of time it is taking to install the flood barriers in general. The council was also asked if everyone who needs flood defences will have them in place before October under the Midleton and East Cork Individual Property Protection (IPP) Scheme and if not, why not? They confirmed there were 967 applications from property owners requesting inclusion on the scheme, with 725 deemed as 'valid'. Of these, a total of 2,062 flood gates were requested. 'Cork County Council is aware of the concerns around the timeline for the delivery of the Midleton and East Cork IPP scheme,' a spokesperson said. 'The delivery of this scheme is dependent on both the level of uptake of the scheme and the market response. Vivienne Jeffers: 'Nearly two years on, I am still stuck in fight or flight mode.' Picture: Neil Michael 'The majority of openings for which floodgates are being provided will require builders' work. Each property requires different size flood barriers to be procured from different suppliers. 'The ultimate scale of this IPP Scheme vastly exceeds that of any similar scheme delivered in Ireland or wider Europe. 'The market response for both supply of barriers and works contractors interested in undertaking the type of work required has been challenging to date.' They added: 'Cork County Council is continuing to explore every option to expedite the scheme to ensure that as many barriers as possible are delivered to properties in advance of this coming winter season.'
