Oileán; An Spailpín agus An Saighdiúr, Árainn Mór

"You can take the man from the island but you can't take the island from the man."  Séamus Boyle.

Séamus Boyle has one of the most amazing daily commutes in Ireland.  First thing every morning he drives to the pier on Árainn Mhór in Donegal.   Then he puts on an all-weather protection suit, and speeds across the three and a half miles of open sea to the mainland by boat.  Then he gets into his other car and drives 65 miles to Finner Army Camp. 

Séamus Boyle had originally joined the Irish navy.  As an islander he thought the seafaring life would suit his temperament.  But as he says himself:  "I didn't take to the navy.  Nothing against Cavan men, but I had a Cavan man who jumped over a ditch telling me how to get into a boat!  It wasn't my thing."  Séamus transferred to the Army at Finner Camp.  At first he lived in a nearby housing estate with his wife Louise, also from the island, and their two children.  But they wanted to raise their children on Árainn Mhór, so they moved back home to the island.

For many families on Árainn Mhór, the sacrifice they must make to live on the island is to be separated from the main breadwinner who must live and work on the mainland.   Eddie Ferry has a construction job at Dublin airport, working long hours and every second Saturday.  He shares a rented house in Ballymun with a gang of other Donegal building workers.  He only gets home to his wife Danielle and four year old daughter Clara   every second weekend.  Eddie used to go home to the island every summer for the salmon fishing.  But today the island boats formerly engaged in salmon fishing now lie idle. Drift netting for salmon is over.    Eddie is fed up with being away from his home and family.  But he must decide between well paid construction work in Dublin or ekeing out a living back home picking periwinkles and setting lobster pots.   For Eddie like  Séamus and for many others like them, the island calls. 

Séamus Boyle believes that more people would come back to the island if there was an early morning ferry service that would enable them to get to work on time on the mainland.  So he has taken the risk to invest in a purpose built fast ferry boat to fill the gap in the market.

Producer/Director:  Irene McCormick

Presenter/Reporter: Fachtna Ó Drisceoil