There are some particularly unspoilt, wild and untamed places in Ireland. The island of Great Blasket, off the coast of County Kerry, is one of them… but it would seem that it has recently been the object of “degradations”, or disrespectful behaviour on the part of certain visitors…
The island’s guardians have denounced the behavior of certain travelers on the famous Irish island. Some would not hesitate to urinate on the remains of the island’s ancient village… while others would mistreat the local seals, accustomed to living on local beaches…
Every year, it’s the same thing: Irish tourism launches a major international recruitment drive for two new guardians to look after Great Blasket Island during the tourist season.
A particularly atypical seasonal job, since the island has no electricity or running water! Here, everything is done the old-fashioned way, by candlelight and the warmth of a peat fire… to the rhythm of the climate and the ocean.
It’s an unusual and challenging life, which involves not only looking after the island, but above all welcoming visitors to discover the wonders of Great Blasket Island, whether on a day trip or an overnight stay (in a relatively comfortable cottage).
Such was the experience this year for Brock Montgomery and Claire de Haas, the couple who were selected earlier this year from thousands of applicants to be the new janitors of Great Blasket Island.
Having just left the island, the latter were keen to reflect on their experience… In addition to having experienced some “wonderful” moments, which would have changed them forever, they would also have noted some incivilities on the part of certain travelers.
Although these are isolated cases, they suggest that tourists need to be made more aware of the fragility of the island’s environment.
The latter would have observed some shocking behaviour:
We’ve seen people regularly using the ruins as toilets,” Claire de Haas told the Irish Examiner. But we don’t blame people because they have nowhere else to go.
The island has no public toilets… A situation which, according to the guards, should be resolved by the installation of environmentally-friendly dry cabins. Visitors are not entirely to blame, but they should choose better places to urinate, preferring nature to the island’s historical remains.
But we’re more concerned about what visitors are doing to the seals.
Indeed, the north shore of Great Blasket Island is known to host large groups of grey seals. Wild animals that attract the curiosity of travellers every year…
However, some of them behave inappropriately, forgetting that these are wild animals that should never be approached by humans.
We saw a man throw a baby seal into the water, then pull it out and hold it in his arms for a selfie. This little seal died later.
These worrying statements prompted an immediate reaction from the OPW (the Irish Office of Public Works). A spokesperson immediately said they were working immediately to resolve the problem.
Toilets will be installed for them in the near future, while a series of signs will be erected on the island to raise visitors’ awareness of the need to protect seals and birds.
The OPW said it would also coordinate with ferry operators to ensure that all visitors receive upstream information about the island.
These measures should make some indelicate travellers more responsible, while providing optimum protection for one of Ireland’s most beautiful wild islands!
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