Islanders on Inis Meain, Co Galway, appear to have won the first round in a battle for a safer pier following two deaths on the existing landing stage within the last five years.
However, the community of 170 people is still divided over the project, with tourism interests and ferry operators backing retention of the pier at Ceibh an Cora on the eastern shore.
Galway County Council has conducted a feasibility study on developing a safer alternative at An Caladh Mor on the northern and more sheltered part of the island and has admitted that the existing harbour, on which several million euro of State money was spent, is dangerous.
The Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Mr Ó Cuiv, has also backed an alternative, with a recent grant of €148,225 to fund preliminary work at An Caladh Mor.
The grant has been given to Galway County Council to employ consultants who will prepare applications for planning permission and a foreshore licence, while also drawing up an environmental impact statement.
Earlier this month the remains of an islander who was washed off the pier two years ago were buried on the island.
Micheal Dara Conneely was standing with his bicycle on the pier at Ceibh an Cora when he was hit by a wave and swept into the sea. His death was the second on the pier since its extension in 1994-95 by the Department of the Marine at a cost of over £2.5 million.
An islander died from injuries after he was hit by a rope from the ferry while it was berthed at the pier in heavy weather. After the second accident, Galway County Council erected fainic or warning signs, but one of these was damaged in recent gales.
Ceibh an Cora offers no protection from north-east to south-east, with considerable currents and waves running through the sound to the east of the island. An Caladh Mor is regarded as more sheltered, although it is exposed to the north-west and is unusable at low tide.
Development would require dredging and a breakwater at a cost of several million euro, but Mr Tarlach de Blacam, of Inis Meain Knitwear, says safety is the primary issue.
He has welcomed the grant offered by Mr Ó Cuiv's Department as an initial step towards securing a safe harbour. Galway County Council said it hoped to appoint consultants shortly.
The local authority is responsible for some 260 piers and landing stages around the Galway coastline.
In a separate development, Mr Ó Cuiv has initiated a support scheme which will encourage enterprises on Gaeltacht islands. The Minister, who was on a visit to Cape Clear island, Co Cork, said Údaras na Gaeltachta, when grant-aiding suitably qualified companies, would take into account 80 per cent of the additional current and capital costs which arise from establishing a business on an island.
The grant will be subject to a maximum level of €90,000 over three years. The Minister said the new scheme would "give practical recognition to the exceptional circumstances that apply to establishing an enterprise on an island".
Although the scheme will be limited to Gaeltacht islands initially, the Minister said he hoped to be able to announce a similar scheme "shortly" for non-Gaeltacht islands.