For almost 12 years the State and private owners have been involved in a wrangle over the ownership of the Great Blasket island, off Dun Chaoin, in Co Kerry. The island, a testament to a unique way of life, was deserted by the inhabitants in the 1950s, because they had run out of turf to fuel their fires in the stone houses and because they could no longer sustain themselves. But before the evacuation, writers like Peig Sayers and Tomas O Criomhthain had produced a remarkable body of literature about island life. But where was the support from the State and why was it not made possible for the islanders to sustain their way of life?
De Valera's government didn't do much to help and in general the State witnessed and allowed the evacuation of an island which once sustained a vibrant community.
Subsequently a Dingle solicitor, Peter Callery, and his brother Jim, through their company, An Blascaod Mor Teoranta, came to own a 50 per cent stake in the holdings on the Great Blasket. But in 1989 the An Blascaod Mor National Historic Park Act was passed, allowing for acquisition of land on the island not owned by former islanders or their immediate descendants by compulsory purchase.
It brought Mr Callery and his brother, together with other beneficial owners of holdings on the island, into direct conflict with the State. They contended that the Act, which sought to remove from them their ownership of the holdings by CPO, was unconstitutional.
The matter went to the High Court and in a 200-page judgment Mr Justice Budd found for the Callery brothers and their partners. The judgment was then appealed by the State to the Supreme Court and the issue was heard in public just recently. The State's appeal failed.
The judgment has left a sour taste in many State quarters and raises several questions about how the State has behaved towards the Blasket Islands and especially the Great Blasket over the past quarter of a century. When help was needed it was not forthcoming and when more might have been done to preserve this unique culture off the Kerry coastline, nothing happened.
Mr Callery and his partners, including an American widow, Ms Kay Brooks, who came into ownership of the land on the island, fought a long and hard battle against the State. And the stakes were high. It is anticipated that the costs of the legal battle will run to £1.5 million and that compensation which may come to a seven-figure sum will now be sought from the State.
As the highly complex legal action got under way, Mr Callery and his partners had already begun preservation work on the island and had built a guest house and toilet facilities. Mr Callery says that throughout the legal wrangling, the State has not budged and has done nothing to restore or preserve the buildings on the island, which have fallen into a state of disrepair.
He feels that because of the power of the State, including the Commissioners of Public Works and the Minister for the Gaeltacht, he and his partners have been defamed and treated in a wrongful manner. When the State could have moved to make the Great Blasket a place of sanctuary and visitation, it failed to do so, and only because of his work and that of his partners does the island now claim to have any semblance of preservation.
And whither the future of the Great Blasket? Mr Callery says that the Supreme Court judgment paves the way for his company to continue the preservation work on the island and to make it more amenable for tourists. He adds that there is already accommodation for up to 30 people, as well as a cafe, and that once the final legal issues have been dealt with, including costs and compensation, further works will be undertaken.
Already a new water supply has been established using a natural spring. He says that An Blascaod Mor Teoranta is firmly committed to preserving the Great Blasket's culture and that it will not allow the island to become a "honky-tonky" centre. His hope is that the island will welcome tourists in a managed way, but that it will not become a gaudy tourism package. There will be more preservation and restoration work. The old village, deserted in the 1950s, will be preserved for posterity, while not being fully restored, to show people how the villagers lived on the island.
"Our intention is that this will not become a cheap tourist trap. We have already spent almost £200,000 on preservation works and the last thing we would ever wish to see is the Great Blasket becoming a cheap tourist resort. "We would not let that happen and our hope is that within five years the island will be a marvellous attraction for people who wish to experience at first hand something special in Irish history," he said.
