"Send a group of men off to an island together, and they'd be sitting there on their hands until three in the morning. Send a group of women, and they're up dancing and singing without even a drink . . ."
The comment comes from an enthusiastic participant in a new programme which may change the lives of women on 12 offshore islands. a na nOilean, The programme, Mna na nOilean, has started at an unusual time, during the dark days of December.
For women from these offshore islands, however, life is beginning again as they face into new year training under the EU NOW (New Opportunities for Women) scheme.
Organised along with Comdhail Oileain na hEireann, the Irish Islands Federation, the programme comprises several strands: personal development, community development and specific skills. The beauty of it from the islanders' perspective is its accessibility. The EU funds support travel by instructors to the participants' islands, and the timetable is flexible enough to cope with weather, child care and other variables.
One particular obstacle, distance, was overcome at its recent launch. Instead of pulling people down from one part of the coast to another, the federation used an ISDN tele-link to host a simultaneous opening on Inis Moir, Co Galway, Arranmore, Co Donegal, and Sherkin island, Co Cork. There was also an attempt to link up with the federation's Scottish partners, but due to an equipment difficulty the Scots could hear the Irish, but not vice versa.
The ISDN technology has wider application, as several of the participants on the programme have already noted. "We'd hope to use it to keep children on the islands who might otherwise be forced to leave because of lack of schools," according to Mary Catherine Heanue of Inishturk, Co Mayo.
Some women have already started several of the courses, and local instructors will be used where possible. "On Inis Moir, we've begun French, aerobics and reflexology, and we hope to have computer training after Christmas," says Olwen Gill, an aerobics instructor on Inis Moir.
"It is a fantastic project, but what was most striking about that first weekend was the contrast in our needs," she says. "On Inis Moir we have our doctor, our nurses, our restaurants, our regular transport, and it almost doesn't feel like an island for some of our visitors. Here we are thinking about access to thirdlevel degree courses, and we are not so worried about jobs, whereas on some of the other islands the main challenge is employment and how to go about winning a national school."
Beth Moran of Clare Island, Co Mayo, and Ms Heanue agree that the opening weekend was an enlightening experience. "If for no other reason than to exchange ideas and information, it was a momentous occasion, spectacular," says Ms Moran, a mother of three with her own weaving company, Ballytuohy Loom.
On Clare Island about 14 women have already begun computer training, and there is an opportunity of guaranteed employment on completion. "For women who might otherwise have to depend on seasonal work associated with tourism, it offers a real alternative to work at home all year round," Ms Moran emphasises.
On Inishturk about 12 women have signed up, according to Ms Heanue, who runs a guesthouse and is former secretary of the island's community council. "We did a computer course already, through the LEADER programme, so we are interested in other skills. We have a qualified local person who is prepared to instruct in basket-weaving, for instance."
At the opening, it became obvious that the programme would take on its own momentum, well before the two years of instruction are over. As the island federation representatives noted, there was a consensus that the network should use its strength in numbers to campaign on certain issues, such as provision of basic services on some islands.
Even now, on some islands, families have to leave when children reach school age. Women expecting children often seek induced labour, to save on the cost of staying on the mainland while waiting to give birth.
Ms Gill says she is dying to visit the other islands as a result. "People have this idea that islands are all the same. They are anything but. We had two great nights that first weekend on Inis Moir, and you could just see the differences when people got up on the floor in Joe Watty's. Different sets, different styles of singing . . . that diversity which we have lost to a large extent on Inis Moir but which we must hold on to and treasure elsewhere."
For more details on the first Irish island NOW programme, contact Eilis Ui Chathain or Mairead O'Reilly at Comdhail Oileain na hEireann, Inis Oirr, Arainn, Cuan na Gaillimhe, at (099) 75096, fax (099) 75103 or email: comdhail.oileain@indigo.ie
