Ireland Has a Plan to Repopulate Its Remote Islands: Pay People $92,000 to Move There
If the lush green landscapes in The Banshees of Inisherin hold appeal for you, a new program in Ireland may be up your alley. The filming location used in the movie, as well as several other islands, are being targeted for a repopulation movement that will pay new occupants up to $92,000.
According to Fortune, Ireland’s Our Living Islands program is seeking to boost the population of about 30 islands that are cut off from the mainland. (Inis Mór, seen in the Oscar-nominated Banshees, is one of them.) Despite robust tourism traffic that sees up to 300,000 visitors annually, fewer than 3000 people occupy the islands as full-time residents.
To incentivize settlers, the country is willing to reimburse new homeowners up to $92,000. The catch? They’ll have to agree to purchase one of the homes on the islands, which might need considerable renovation work. (No, you can’t live in a camper: The grant applies only to abandoned homes.)
While a subsidized house may sound inviting, keep in mind that the islands are the very definition of remote living. Some have populations numbering in the hundreds, with just a single store or school to service locals. Others have just one or two residents. Part of the Our Living Islands program seeks to make these areas more sustainable, with health centers and broadband internet.
The program is open to U.S. citizens, though the grant may depend on whether a work permit or residency is granted. If you go, you may first want to brush up on some commonly mispronounced Irish names as well as the definitions behind some common Irish slang.