Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 5 Apr 1951

Vol. 125 No. 2

Adjournment Debate—Conditions in Aran Islands.

Mr. McQuillan

Some Deputies may wonder at my raising questions about the conditions which exist in the Aran Islands seeing that I do not represent that constituency and have nothing to do with it. So I would like to make my position quite clear to the House. It is not my intention to interfere in the affairs of constituencies in the West of Ireland but when the grievances of these constituencies are brought to my notice I think I am entitled, as a Deputy of this House, to do what I can to have them remedied. For a long time past I have been receiving communications and have spoken to people who are very familiar with the conditions in the islands and they have repeatedly asked me to raise certain matters in the House. I did not do so, I must confess: I decided that I would not until I had an opportunity of visiting these islands and seeing for myself what conditions there were like.

Most people visit the Aran Islands in summertime and it cannot be denied that in summertime they are at their best. The people there seem to be quite happy and contented and so are the visitors.

Captain Cowan

May I draw attention to the fact that while the important matter of the Aran Islands is under discussion members of the Fianna Fáil Party have left the House.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Chair has no interest in that.

Captain Cowan

I think they ought to have some interest in the Aran Islands.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

It is not a matter for the Chair at all.

Mr. McQuillan

I, however, took the opportunity of visiting these islands not during the summer months but at Easter and, as a result of that visit, I decided to put down on the Order Paper some questions to the Minister for Lands and the Minister for Agriculture. I am glad to say that the Minister for Lands gave a favourable answer to one question about land division and said that his Department were about to take a step which should have been taken years ago, namely the division of a large farm on the main island of approximately 260 acres.

I was not, however, satisfied with the answer to the other question. The question I raised was:—

"To ask the Minister for Lands whether he is aware of the appalling conditions under which the inhabitants of the Aran Islands are living at present and that the services provided under the Vote for Gaeltacht Services are entirely inadequate and have failed completely to remove the primitive conditions under which the islanders are compelled to live and, if so, whether his Department have any concrete proposals for the general betterment of life on the islands."

The first part of the Minister's reply was:—

"Conditions on the Aran Islands are not as represented by the Deputy."

It was in order to disprove that statement that I asked permission to raise the matter on the Adjournment. I propose to prove to the best of my ability that conditions are not as the Minister and his Department would have us believe: that the islanders are living in the lap of luxury. In my opinion, they are living under the most primitive conditions possible, and it is only in the winter months or the spring season that people outside the islands can appreciate those conditions. I propose to tell of things exactly as I saw them.

On my way to the main island I went by fishing trawler from Rosaveel. The boat I travelled on had just arrived there and on it was a child who had been transported from Inishmaan first to the main island and then to Rosaveel. That child had broken a leg eight or ten days previously, and because no transport was available it was impossible to get that child into Galway Hospital. For eight or ten days that child was left with a broken leg unset and without proper hospital attention until this fishing trawler took it to Rosaveel.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Has the Minister for Lands any responsibility for that?

Mr. McQuillan

The reason I mention that is to prove that conditions on the island are primitive, for if that is not a primitive state of affairs I do not know what is.

Not only is transport primitive but the provisions of the Gaeltacht Services Vote are anything but satisfactory on the islands. It is a sad commentary that conditions on the Aran Islands and the living of the inhabitants were to a great extent far better under the British régime than under a native Government. It is well known to the House and the Minister that Kilronan was the centre of a great fishing industry. To-day that fishing industry is no more. A pier was built under the Congested Districts Board in Kilronan and storage was made available to the fishing industry, the finest type of storage you could see. That pier and that storage are lying there to-day no longer used in the industry which should be the main industry of the West of Ireland. To make things worse, to add insult to injury, not alone is the fishing industry dead in the Aran Islands but the islanders have the sorrowful sight of daily watching the British, Spanish, Belgian and Portuguese trawlers fishing off the island.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I do not like to interrupt the Deputy, but it is the Minister for Agriculture who is responsible for the fishing industry.

Mr. McQuillan

In connection with Gaeltacht Services and conditions generally, the question I asked to-day was "whether the Minister is aware of the appalling conditions under which the inhabitants of the Aran Islands are living at present," and the answer I got was that "the conditions on the Aran Islands are not as represented by the Deputy."

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I would like the Deputy to pin on to the Minister for Lands what he is responsible for. Local government seems to come into portion of the statement and then agriculture.

Mr. McQuillan

I am pointing out that the major industry there, which is fishing, has disappeared and that the alternative industries provided are not at all sufficient to make up for the loss of income or wealth that the islanders had when the fishing was flourishing. In order to lead up to that picture, I took the opportunity of giving the House an idea of how well-off the people on the islands were prior to native Government. It is only for that purpose that I deviated from the actual subject matter of the question.

If the Minister for Lands, who is also the Minister in charge of the Gaeltacht services, is serious about the job of providing suitable and permanent industries for the western seaboard, which includes the Aran Islands, the key industry that should come under his control in order to improve conditions is the fishing industry. I regret that the Minister himself now maintains that he has no responsibility for the fishing industry, and as far as he is concerned, and as far as I can ascertain now from him, he is mostly interested in the setting up of toy industries in the congested areas. I am afraid that toy industries are a very poor substitute and hold out very little hope of permanent employment for the people that he describes in his answer to my question as "a hardworking, healthy race, who are, as always, taking advantage of Government schemes to improve their housing conditions". I thoroughly agree with the Minister that the islanders are a hardworking healthy race, but I want to go further and say that they are a very patient race to have put up with conditions as they have done for some years past.

The Minister is responsible for the small industries, such as the seaweed and kelp and the sea-rod industry. If the lot of the islanders is to be made easier in connection with these industries, if they are to make any money at all, it is the Minister's duty to see that suitable piers are erected on those three islands. Surely the Minister cannot dissociate himself from the responsibility of providing piers in connection with these industries? The plain fact is that on two of the islands there are no facilities for landing. On Inishmaan there is what is described as a slip, but which is really a breakwater, and it is placed on the wrong side of the island. It is impossible even for a fishing trawler to get within less than a quarter of a mile of the shore.

Every landing that has to be made on Inishmaan or Inis Thiar has to be made by a currach—and I am sure I need not explain to the House what a currach is. It would be interesting for some members of the House to see for themselves the dangers which these islanders have to undergo in making a landing on these particular islands. The best way I can describe it is that when any of those currachs are coming in to the shore the men have actually to count the waves before they land for fear they would be dashed against the rocks. All credit is due to those hardy and healthy islanders for the courage that they display under such primitive conditions. If the Minister is really keen on the development of rural industries there, he must see first of all that proper piers and landing places are made available on the islands. Otherwise, the transport system itself will fail.

I understand from the Leas-Cheann Comhairle that the actual question of transport to the islands is not the responsibility of the Minister for Lands or the Minister in charge of Gaeltacht services, but in order to prove my point that conditions are primitive on the island, I think I am entitled to say that at least every family there should have at their disposal the means of warming themselves during the winter months and cooking their food over a decent fire. The position over the winter months there is almost unbelievable. Were it not for the fact that some 300 tons of fuel was made available recently, I shudder to think what conditions might be like at the moment.

Mr. Bartley

Will the Deputy say why the turf was scarce there?

Mr. McQuillan

I would point out to Deputy Bartley that when it came to supplying the Aran islanders with turf, that turf came from Carraroe and Rosaveel and elsewhere, and with the market for turf in Galway no one could blame the Connemara turf suppliers for supplying Galway rather than making the hazardous journey to the Aran islands, with the result that they were left without fuel until 300 tons were put in.

Mr. Bartley

It was the Coalition that stopped the turf industry in Connemara. That is the reason.

Minister for Lands (Mr. Blowick)

Do not talk through your hat.

Mr. McQuillan

There is at present turf leaving Connemara for Galway City and the position regarding the Aran Islands fuel supply is that they have been neglected for years past. In that connection, there is no use in providing fuel for these winter months only. It must be done on a permanent basis, by building up a stock on the islands. In conclusion, I should like to point out that until the Aran Islands. Connemara and those areas where the Irish language is preserved and treasured are made the responsibility of one Minister in regard to fuel, food and transport communications, etc., there is no good in tackling it in the piecemeal manner in which it has been tackled in the past, with one Minister saying "I am not responsible", and another Minister passing you on to someone else. Until a particular Minister is made responsible for these areas nothing very useful can be done.

Gearóid Mac Pharthaláin

Rinne an Teachta McQuillan tagairt do cheist na Gaeilge. Is é mo thuairim féin nár cheart go mbeadh aon díospóireacht faoi oileáin Arainn gan Gaeilge a úsáid ann. Níor thug an Teachta an deashampla dúinn so rud sin. Tá sé sáthach óg leis an nGaeilge a fhoghlaim agus tá dualgas air cuid dá chuid díograis a chur ar son na Gaelige agus ba cheart dó é a dhéanamh.

I do not propose to detract in the slightest way from Deputy McQuillan's sentimental story about the Aran Islands. A great deal of the material for it has been created during the past three years. The Deputy spoke about turf to-day. We know the Aran islands always got turf from the bogs of Connemara until this year, when the turf was not available because of the very deliberate and positive policy of the Coalition in stopping turf production. That cannot be denied. If any denial is to be made, let it be made in Connemara, and I hope we shall soon have an opportunity of hearing it there.

Mr. McQuillan

What were they charging in the Aran Islands for turf?

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I suppose both Deputies would like to hear the Minister?

Mr. Bartley

In the Fianna Fáil time a vocational school was decided upon for the Aran Islands. That has not been provided during the last three years Why has it not? Galway harbour is of vital importance to the Aran Islands because the Dun Aengus goes in there. For three years I have been trying to find out from the Department of Industry and Commerce what they were going to do in connection with the application for a grant by the Galway Harbour Commissioners. I could not get any reply to that, and nothing was done until one of their own Deputies died. Because there is a by-election pending and the people in that constituency are waiting for a chance to say what they think about the Coalition, we now have all this ballyhoo.

Minister for Lands (Mr. Blowick)

Most of the case put up by Deputy McQuillan and the few random remarks made by Deputy Bartley which have no bearing on the question dealt with matters that do not come under my Department and for which money is voted in the Estimates for other Departments, particularly the Office of Public Works and the Department of Agriculture. So far as the Gaeltacht Services division of my Department is concerned, we have always done our best for the people of the Aran Islands. Deputy McQuillan harped on one thing that I resent, that the conditions there are primitive. Conditions there are very different from what they are in Dublin and most parts of the country.

Mr. McQuillan

On a point of order. When I was explaining why I thought the conditions were primitive you, Sir, ruled me out of order on the ground that it had nothing to do with the subject matter of the question which I intended to raise. I could show that the Minister's knowledge of the Aran Islands is primitive.

Mr. Blowick

The location of the islands, the fact that they are 11 or 12 miles out from the mainland in the open Atlantic, is the primary cause why transport is, not alone bad, but most hazardous. That cannot be overcome.

Mr. McQuillan

Yes, it can.

Mr. Blowick

No Government can throw a bridge across to the Aran Islands. Even with the best possible boat service, at times it will be hazardous and the islands will be cut off.

Mr. McQuillan

Why not have a store of food and fuel on the islands?

Mr. Bartley

As Fianna Fáil did.

Mr. McQuillan

They did not.

Mr. Bartley

They did. We had a store there all during the war, but it is not there now.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

It seems that neither Deputy wants to hear the Minister.

Mr. Blowick

There seems to be a conspiracy against the Minister on this occasion. The Gaeltacht Services Section have done all that is humanly possible towards giving employment on the islands. We can actually give more employment than we can get people to take up.

Mr. McQuillan

In what line?

Mr. Blowick

In industries.

Mr. McQuillan

The toy industry?

Mr. Blowick

I never said that we were developing the toy industry there. The toy industry has its own place in the Gaeltacht Services, but it will never become a huge industry here, at least there is no prospect of it. It is not the toy industry that has been established in the islands. It is the knitting industry, which is suitable for girls. Some 23 are at present employed and we have work for more. For Deputy Bartley's benefit, I may say that long before the very sad death of the late Deputy Mongan an order for 40,000 pairs of socks was arranged, most of which is to go to the Aran Islands if the people will take up the employment. All we can do is to offer the employment. We do not propose to go on with whips or guns to make them work and improve their conditions whether they like it or not. At present 17 new houses are under construction there. All we can do is to offer these things to the people and let them take them if they like.

Mr. McQuillan

Divide the land and build houses.

Mr. Blowick

I can assure the Deputy that there is not much land in the Aran Islands to divide and that there was a large amount of local opinion against the dividing of the farm mentioned by the Deputy.

Mr. McQuillan

Because the individual concerned got people to make representations not to have his land divided.

Mr. Blowick

I do not agree with that. However, that is outside my control. It is in the hands of the Land Commissioners and, if it brings relief to a group of families there, I will be only too pleased.

Mr. McQuillan

It should have been done long ago.

Mr. Blowick

The wishes of the people on the islands must be taken into account. Although there is a Government Department to do the best it can for the people, it has no authority to compel people to improve their conditions according to what the Government may think. We might think that it would be a good thing if they had this, that or the other and the people on the islands might not think so.

Mr. McQuillan

Does the Minister suggest that the people do not want the land divided?

Mr. Blowick

I have had representations from a large body of people not to divide it.

Mr. McQuillan

I know that people were asked by this individual to make representations not to have his land divided.

Mr. Blowick

That is a matter beyond my control. It is an excepted matter which is the function of the Land Commissioners. If the commissioners think they should take up that farm and divide it, they will do so. If they do not, there is no power that the Minister or the House can bring to bear on them.

Mr. McQuillan

Is it right for one man to own practically all the arable land on that island?

Mr. Blowick

The Deputy will have to leave that to the commissioners because the House has given the power to the commissioners. If the commissioners, after examination, see fit not to acquire that land, nothing can be done about it, because the authority to acquire and divide it is solely theirs. Deputy Bartley raised a matter outside the question altogether, namely, turf. He tried to back up what he said behind closed doors, that this Government were responsible for closing down the turf industry.

Mr. Bartley

I said it here and I repeat it.

Mr. Blowick

The former Minister for Industry and Commerce was challenged in this House for closing down the turf industry all over the country the September before he went out of office.

Mr. Bartley

The hand-won turf industry was in operation until you stopped it.

Mr. Blowick

It is scandalous for Deputy Bartley to try to raise a storm here. If he had been half as vocal during the last three years as he is now when his Party is getting uneasy——

Mr. Bartley

I did not require to be vocal.

Mr. Blowick

——and if he had been as vocal from 1932 to 1948, during the 16 years when his Party was in power so as to get some of these things done for the Aran islands and the people of West Galway, he would not need to be talking now.

The Dáil adjourned at 11 p.m. until 3 p.m. on Tuesday, April 10th.