Islanders face problems quite unlike the rest of us, road transport, for example. For years, island communities have been able to apply for funds for the resurfacing and maintenance of the typical island road - wide enough for just one vehicle - but never for passing bays.
Both local authorities and State departments stubbornly refused to acknowledge that such bays, where vehicles could pull in to let others pass, were an integral part of island road networks.
That's why last month's announcement of £45,000 for roads with passing bays on Clear Island in Co Cork was so significant, says Mr Seamus O Drisceoil, manager of the cape's co-op. "It was the first time, to my knowledge, passing bays were explicitly mentioned in a road grant allocation".
While it might seem a minor break to mainlanders, Mr O Drisceoil says it reflected a major change in official attitudes towards Irish islands.
"If you compare the situation with 10 years ago, there are real signs of progress. There's been a huge change in attitude in local authorities and at Government level and people on the ground are beginning to see that. Their problems, which have been neglected for years, are finally being addressed."
The road grant for Cape Clear is just part of a £2.6 million allocation for the islands announced recently, two-thirds of which is from the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, the remainder from local authorities. The projects range from the provision of basic services like water and public lighting to more ambitious plans like feasibility studies for airstrips at Inishturk and Clare Island.
"Never before have all the islands - big and small - been in cluded in this way," says Mr O Drisceoil, citing the example of Dursey Island, which has been campaigning for over a decade for a water supply scheme. "They've finally got the money now and construction could start before the end of the year."
Mr John Gibbons, chairman of the island federation, Comhdhail Oileain na hEireann, says the fun ding package is "the first real money given to English-speaking islands". Comprising more than a third of the State's 28 inhabited islands, they had been discriminated against for a number of years, he says, partly because they were ineligible for funding from both the Department of the Gaeltacht and Udaras na Gaeltachta.
"Until two years ago there was nothing for English-speaking islands. As a result, the funding is very welcome, although we need another £2 million or so for the next five to six years if we are going to really tackle the disadvantages."
The Minister of State with responsibility for the islands, Mr Eamon O Cuiv, says one of his priorities is to raise the standard of services on English-speaking islands to match their Gaeltacht counterparts. "We also wanted to bring the islands and the Gaeltacht under one Department."
Mr O Cuiv says the funding has been "front-loaded" to tackle immediate problems like roads, access and coastal erosion. A fiveyear plan is being drafted which will address longer-term issues, including the provision of new piers and airstrips.
Island communities also welcome the abolition of means testing for island students attending school on the mainland. Subsidised ferry services have also been introduced for the first time to English-speaking islands, with Co Mayo's Inishbofin, Inishturk and Clare Island now covered.
O Cuiv says The Department is also in negotiation with the ESB "to ensure once and for all a permanent electricity supply to all islands". Eight inhabited islands still have no supply. The Department is also investigating the feasibility of establishing statutory island councils "akin to urban district councils" as well as introducing special tax allowances for the 3,350 islanders. ail policy paper published last year.
Mr O Cuiv vehemently rejects claims that such funding is a luxury the State cannot afford. "State expenditure on island people is well below the national average. They still don't enjoy many services we take for granted, like refuse collections and a publicly provided water supply.
"Just as one would never propose closing the National Gallery or the Chester Beatty Library or knocking down the Rock of Cashel, we shouldn't abandon the islands. Each and every one is unique to our heritage."
The "unwillingness to invest in the islands that are there" is even more astonishing, he says, when one takes into account that millions of pounds have been committed to "chasing that which is lost", namely the proposal to turn the uninhabited Great Blasket Island into a national folk park.
The islands also have huge tourist revenue potential, although Mr Gibbons ail Oileain na hEireann warns this can be a two-edged sword. "Aran islanders are now complaining that they have too much tourism and are getting the wrong type of tourists such as day-trippers who don't spend much on the island. The ferries are making all the money instead."
This led to a call by Aran islanders at the federation's a.g.m. last month for landing charges. It was resisted, however, by Clare and Bere islands which are trying to expand their tourist trade. "We want to develop as a tourism destination but in a controlled way," says Mr Donal O'Shea, Clare Island's development manager.
"Unless the benefits are shared across the board, by B & Bs, the ferries, shops etc, it can create resentment and splits." Mr O'Shea welcomes the progress made under Mr O Cuiv and his predecessor, Mr Donal Carey, as "God knows, there's few votes in it", but like most, he believes it should have been done long ago. "The islands are still left out of the bigger picture. The Government is talking about spending billions of pounds for a subway in Dublin instead of looking at the potential for decentralisation and at stopping people from leaving the land.
"The broader public needs to recognise the islands should be protected. There's nowhere like them if you want to get away from it all. They're the last pieces of culture we have left."