FIANNA FAIL'S policy document on the islands has been welcomed by most islanders as recognising the particular disadvantages of living offshore, according to Clare Island's development officer, Mr Donal O'Shea.
He says the document promises a range of actions which, if implemented, will make significant improvements to life there. The proposal to extend the grants system for Gaeltacht island ferries to all islands Is particularly welcome, he says, as it resolves a major bone of contention.
Other proposals, such as a supplementary welfare allowance and an extra tax allowance of Pounds 3,000 for island residents, recognise the higher costs involved in transporting food, fuel and building materials to the islands.
According to Mr O'Shea, research carried out on eight islands shows that the average cost of a "shopping basket" of foodstuffs and items such as coal and gas is 52 per cent more expensive on islands, because of the greater transportation costs involved.
The cost of giving some 3,000 island residents the extra tax advantage will be minimal, and in any case should be offset against the contribution their presence on the islands makes to buoyant tourism revenues, he argues.
Mr O'Shea's positive response to the Fianna Fail document is shared by the outgoing chairman of Comhdhail Oileain na hEireann, Mr Seamus O Drisceoil, who also manages the co-op on Cape Clear Island.
During the election campaign, Mr O Drisceoil said islanders were largely sidelined from the political process and had little input into local authorities or other decision-making bodies.
The document reflects those concerns, he says, and proposes some important structural changes which will involve the islanders more in the decision-making process.
These include a proposal to give Udaras na Gaeltachta a developmental role on all islands, and not just those lying within the Gaeltacht. In tandem with that, islanders will be given the right to elect one member of the Udaras board.
The Gaeltacht authority is widely regarded on the islands as having more expertise in dealing with the problems islanders face than other state or semi-state bodies.
In general, the Gaeltacht islands have fared better in their dealings with the State than the non-Gaeltacht ones, where the perceived remoteness and indifference of government departments is a constant aggravation.
"It seems to me a lot of thought has gone into the document, and a lot of analysis. It is an attempt to take a structural look at the problems," Mr O Drisceoil says.
He sees difficulties ahead, however, for some of the more far-reaching proposals, such as the idea of giving island co-ops a greater role in the provision of public services on the islands.