A shellfish co-operative on Achill Island is trying to create employment for local people.
There has been a Franciscan community in the Gaeltacht village of Bun an Churraigh (Bunacurry) on the northern end of Achill Island since the 1850s. When the brothers opened a school here there were over one hundred children on the roll books. Now there are just twenty attending Scoil Náisiúnta Naomh Seosamh.
Like many rural areas, the population is in decline. Jobs are hard to come by, and most men must travel abroad for work, leading to a general picture of
Empty houses, emigration, lean living on leaner land.
Brother Oswald Creran has started a shellfish cooperative in the village with twenty local men. With oysters fetching a good price in Dublin hotels, there are hopes that the business has the potential to generate profits, and supplement the income of local families.
As things currently stand, the future is uncertain for both the cooperative and the village. Brother Oswald Creran maintains that his community will continue to work with the co-op and see what develops from it.
It’s better to die fighting anyway. There is no sense in lying down. Try something you never know what would happen.
Given that most of the men must leave Achill to find seasonal work elsewhere, it is the women and children who have the task of gathering the periwinkles, mussels and oysters from the shore.
All the shellfish are exported to France, as there is not a big enough market for them in Ireland. While the money is a welcome addition to local households, picking periwinkles is labour intensive. Mrs McNulty explains,
It’s very hard work, and I’m getting old now.
Brendan Fahy is vice chairman of the Achill Festival committee which takes place during the month of June. He believes that the native mollusks are increasing in popularity with Irish people and should be included on the festival programme as,
There’s an abundance and a marvellous variety...on the coasts of Achill.
This episode of 'Newsbeat’ was broadcast on 11 March 1969. The reporter is Cathal O’Shannon.
'Newsbeat' was a half-hour feature programme presented by Frank Hall and ran for seven years from September 1964 to June 1971. 'Newsbeat' went out from Monday to Friday on RTÉ television and reported on current affairs and issues of local interest from around Ireland. The final programme was broadcast on 11 June 1971.
