Written by Cormac Walsh
Small offshore islands face a myriad of challenges due to the increased costs associated with public service provision for small communities with comparatively low levels of accessibility with respect to larger population centres. Many challenges faced by small offshore islands related to accessibility, seasonality, infrastructure and service provision are shared by mainland rural communities but are placed in sharper focus and can have more significant and long-lasting implications within an island context. Today, islands are integrated with mainland societies through information and communication technologies and the regular movement of people and goods. Indeed, in many cases, islands attract large numbers of tourist visitors and in some respects, may be considered less remote or peripheral than some rural communities on the mainland. Islands tend to have a high degree of visibility. They are easily spotted on the map. Their contours are well-defined. They tend to have a strong presence in the popular imagination, often because of their perceived remoteness and status as ‘places apart’. Islands are often valued as sites of natural and cultural heritage, associated with distinct literary or artistic traditions or as refuges for endangered species. Neighbouring islands within an archipelago are often found to have distinct characters, reflecting locally-specific social, cultural and environmental dynamics. Islands are thus both ordinary and extraordinary places. They are neither homogenous nor uniform. They may have a strong place-based identity but are also plural and diverse microcosms of the wider societies and webs of relations within which they are situated. It is thus difficult to speak, or write of islands in the plural.
Nevertheless, it is increasingly recognised that islands require tailored place-based integrated governance solutions. In the following, I focus on the northwestern European context and seek to draw some initial comparative insights from current practice in Ireland and Scotland.
Scotland may be viewed as a forerunner in this regard. Island policy lies within the portfolio of the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, one of nine cabinet secretaries (senior ministers) of the Scottish Government. Policy is coordinated via an Islands Strategic Group at a strategic level and at an operational level via a National Islands Plan Delivery Group (see below). The latter group includes representatives of a wide range of public sector organisations and stakeholders. The Scottish Islands Federation (SIF), a network of island communities, established in 2000, ensures island voices can influence national policy.
The Islands (Scotland) Act which became law in 2018, includes a commitment to preparation a National Islands Plan and, perhaps more significantly, a legal requirement for future policies and legislation to be 'island proofed ', through provisions for island communities impacts assessments. The National Plan for Scotland's Islands was subsequently published in 2019. This document begins with a strong statement concerning the role of islands in Scottish national identity: "Our islands are synonymous with Scotland and the nation we are. In particular, they help define how international audiences see Scotland and contribute hugely to our national identity while also preserving and promoting strong local identities". From this perspective, island policy may be interpreted within the wider context of policy-driven nation-building in Scotland post-devolution of powers to the Scottish Government in 1999.
The plan sets out thirteen strategic objectives and explicitly adopts a cross-sectoral, integrated approach. The strategic objectives are wide-ranging, addressing among other issues population stability, climate change mitigation, cultural heritage, community empowerment, housing and transport. The plan itself is short on detail and does not include a timeframe for implementation of concrete measures. An Implementation Route Map covering the period 2020-2025, however, provides specific measures, yet here also, policy objectives are framed in general, abstract terms and are not accompanied by specific commitments of funds (e.g. "There is a recognised and implemented Repopulation Action Plan supporting population growth and retention"). Relevant government bodies, public agencies and community stakeholders are identified, but no clear distinction is made between organisations with lead responsibility for service delivery and implementation of measures, and other stakeholders. It is also unclear to what extent the plan can respond to the unique contexts and circumstances of individual islands and island groups.
Ireland has followed Scotland's example, with the publication of a national policy framework "Our Living Islands" in June 2023, replacing interdepartmental committee report on island development dating from 1996. Ireland's island policy is not, however, supported by underpinning legislation. There is no equivalent to the Scottish Islands Act. Island policy is led by the Department of Rural and Community Development. 'Our Living Islands' takes an explicitly 'whole of government' approach. In its opening statement, the document states that "inhabited offshore islands are an integral part of the fabric of rural Ireland... (and) make an important contribution to our national economy, our culture and our heritage". The policy is framed around 5 strategic objectives concerned with population 'revitalisation', economic diversification, health and well-being, island community empowerment and the building of 'smart, sustainable futures'. Although the Our Living Islands policy framework has been prepared for a ten-year time horizon, the text is written in general, abstract language, with limited reference to concrete implementation mechanisms. Island interests are represented by Comhdhail Oilean na hEireann (Irish Islands Federation), a founding member of the European Small Islands Federation (ESIN). Operating in parallel, the Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation (IIMRO), is primarily focused on small-scale island fisheries and the sustainable management of marine resources.
The strategic objectives outlined in Our Living Islands are to be addressed through a series of 3 to 4-year Action Plans, the first of which (2023-2026) was published concurrently with the policy framework. One key provision of the Action Plan, providing grants of up to €80,000 for the renovation of vacant residential properties, gained international attention through a misleading interpretation that grants were to be provided to attract people to relocate to the islands. Lack of appropriate year-round affordable housing is viewed as the main obstacle to the future sustainability of Ireland's islands by Comhdhail Oilean na hEireann. The Action Plan contains a total of 80 individual actions grouped according to the strategic objectives of the policy framework. In contrast to the Scottish Implementation Route Map, 'Lead Departments' and 'Lead Stakeholders' are clearly identified for each action, allowing for a higher degree of accountability. It should be noted, however, that national policy implementation in Ireland is generally poor, with correspondingly low expectations of policy follow-through among the public and stakeholder groups. From this perspective, the inclusion of eighty actions within the first three-year action plan might be considered overly ambitious. The Action Plan includes a commitment to provide funding to island communities to prepare Integrated Development Plans for island groupings to profile their strengths, challenges and priorities. Integrated Development Plans provide an opportunity for island communities to adopt a bottom-up approach and to set out future perspectives tailored to their own specific geographic and socio-economic contexts. It remains to be seen, however, whether objectives set out in Integrated Development Plans will be matched by national government funding commitments. Comhdhail Oilean na hEireann has called for Ireland's islands to be considered as one region for administrative purposes rather than as part of mainland counties. This proposal would allow for focused attention to and resourcing of island-specific challenges. There is no indication of a shift in this direction in current government policy.
Comparative Lessons
The development and implementation of national plans and policy frameworks in Scotland and Ireland present a test case for national island policies in the Northwest European context. Their implementation will depend not only on effective partnership across a wide range of government departments, public sector agencies and stakeholders but also on the commitment of adequate funding to support capital investment projects. In both jurisdictions, the level of budgetary commitment remains opaque. Island governance requires extensive cross-sectoral coordination and multi-stakeholder integration. Whereas the Irish and Scottish national policies both demonstrate the potential for active coordination at a strategic level, mismatches and unforeseen gaps are, in many cases, more likely to arise at the operational level, where island-specific solutions need to be found. Finally, island policy must be better integrated within wider coastal and marine policy contexts, taking account of ongoing policy developments and trends in key sectoral fields such as the accelerated development of offshore renewable energy, fisheries and the designation and management of marine protected areas. These fields of activity are not given sufficient attention in the island policies of either jurisdiction.
This commentary has been prepared under the Interreg North Sea FREIIA (Facilitating Resilience Enhancing Islands Innovation Approaches) project (2022-2026).