Bere Island – the Place

Bere Island is situated at the mouth of Bantry Bay in South West Cork, separated from the mainland by Berehaven Harbour to the North. It runs west to east measuring 7 miles long by 3 miles wide. The population at this time is approximately 209, (see table below for breakdown), occupying 90 permanent resident households and 70 temporary/ holiday homes. This population increases considerably during the summer months when we have quite a number of holiday homeowners and other visitors coming onto the island. The army camp on the East end caters for FCA and army personnel in training, and this swells the population significantly.

The island, though remote, offers some spectacular views of Hungry Hill, Sheep’s Head and Castletownbere. The Beara Way runs through the island mainly across the mountainous part where it is over 1000’ above sea in places.

Bere Island is unique from most of the Southern Islands due to it’s strategic location in Bantry Bay, as it has many historic sites and buildings including which are evidence of the military past of the island. These include two Martello towers, a Signal Tower and a number of gun batteries.

The population of Bere Island is relatively well balanced, although a significant proportion of the population are over 65. As with many remote parts of Ireland, it is difficult to hold onto our young population as there are very few facilities, and many leave having finished secondary school. The island’s Childcare facility currently caters for approximately 12 children all year round, with this figure doubling in the summer.

Demographic Profile of the Population of Bere Island

Age	Number of People
> 65 years	43
45 to 64 yrs	49
31 to 44 yrs	40
20 to 30 yrs	28
13 to 19 yrs	19
6 to 12 yrs	14
0 to 5 yrs	16
Total	209

The current economy is based on agriculture, tourism, fishing/ aquaculture, service industries including building. There are approx 50 people farming on the island at present with an average farm size of approximately 20 hectare. The majority of these would also have another source of income besides farming. Thirty two percent of those farming on the island are currently over 65 years of age. Approximately 35 people are employed full time, all year round, on the island in occupations such as building, services, shopkeepers, fishing etc. A further 35 people work off the island and 20 people are self-employed. Due to the isolated nature of the island, and its distance from any large centre of population, there are obvious constraints to developing increased employment opportunities on the island. The islands as a body are looking at ways of addressing this problem, by developing employment opportunities suited to islands, possibly using new technologies.

The island currently has no Council/social housing scheme. People are often unwilling to put themselves on the overall housing list, as they may be offered a house on the mainland when they want to remain on the island. BIPG have carried out and processed a housing needs survey in order to ascertain what the island’s housing needs are, in order that any efforts in the future will be properly targeted.

The services available on the island are outlined in the table below:

Services Available and Not Available on Bere Island

Services Available	Information	Services not available
Ferries	1 (Rerrin & Oileáin na gCaorach)	Enterprise centre
Post Office	1 Post Office in Rerrin	Doctor
School	1 National School	Garda Station
Medical Attention	1 Permanent Nurse	Bank
Church	1 Church and Graveyard	Public Transport
Public Telephone	3 exist, all operational	Tourist Office
Public Toilets	1 (male and female) at Oileán na gCaorach	Petrol Pump
General Store	2 Shops	Cinema
Pub	2 Pubs	Secondary School
Restaurant	1 restaurant in Rerrin & the other in Oileáin na gCaorach	Helicopter landing pad
Crèche	1 fulltime facility based at the Community Centre	Emergency services, e.g. ambulance/ fire fighting
Community Centre	1 in Ballinakilla	Meeting room/venue for holding courses
Diesel Pump	1 at the Marina	Library/archive resource
Handball Alley	1 in Army ownership (not in use)
Tennis Court	1 in Army ownership (not in use)
Football Pitch	1 East End
Refuse Collection	Weekly during the Summer and fortnightly in the Winter
Project Co-ordinator & Project Administrator	Based in the Community Centre
Marina	1 at Lawrence Cove near Rerrin
Craft Shop	1 at the Marina in Lawrence Cove
Plant Hire	2 situated in the centre of the island in Ballinakilla
Building Contractor	1 based in the Western side of the island
Boat painting	1 contractor based in Ballinakilla
Boat repairs	1 (Ballinakilla and Ardaragh)
Health Centre	1 based in Ballinakilla (leased by SHB from St Brendan’s Trust)
Rural Social Scheme	Working on Walkways and Waste Management
Fás	2 workers work on environmental maintenance throughout the island 1 other works as an outreach worker visiting the elderly

Our target groups include:

Men

Women

Children

Youth

Elderly

Disabled

Lone Parents

Farmers

Gay/ Lesbian

As these are our target groups we found that as Bere Island has such a small population people don’t like to be labelled and we include everyone in our own target groups which are:

Childcare Group

Youth Groups (10-14yrs & 15-25yrs)

Active Retirement Group

GAA

IFA

Women’s Group

Theatre Group

Community Alert

Tourist & Environmental Group

Tower Group

Every member of the community is encouraged to participate in these groups. Most of the community would be a member of one or more of these groups. We find it is easier to get people to participate in a group they have an interest in especially if they feel they gain a benefit for themselves while also benefiting the community. Most groups incorporate some training which up skills the whole community.

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Webpage created and modified by Bernie 15/08/2006 Email: bereisle@eircom.net