We at the Tara Foundation were saddened to hear of the death yesterday of Fr. Diarmuid Ó Péicín, 91, the man credited with saving the island of Tory from evacuation.
In the late 1970’s, Tory Island off the coast of Donegal was without running water, electricity, proper sewage facilities or roads, a secondary school or ferry service. Life was extremely difficult for the 180 Irish-speaking inhabitants who were denied the basic standards of living which other Irish citizens took for granted. In desperation, many families moved to the mainland, where Donegal County Council provided housing. Little did the people of Tory know that the County Council was following Irish Government policy to evacuate the island and allow the community to die, in the manner of the Blasket Islands thirty years earlier. In fact, there were various plans to use the evacuated island as an Army firing range, a holiday village for wealthy tourists, a high-security prison or a quarantine.
Then, in 1980, a retired Jesuit priest who had spend a lifetime as a missionary in Africa came to Tory to learn Irish. Fr. Diarmuid Ó Péicín subsequently accepted a curacy there, and quickly discovered that not all was right with the community. The elderly people on the island did not wish to leave, but the younger men and women felt that they had no choice. The Gaeltacht community, with its rich heritage, seemed doomed. Nevertheless, Fr. Ó Péicín began to inspire the people with a sense of their inalienable right to remain on the island where they had lived for generations.
Fr. Ó Péicín worked to attain basic facilities for the islanders, such as proper housing, electricity, running water, roads and a secondary school. His campaign led him from Tory to Dublin to Strasbourg and thence to Washington, where he championed the cause of island people all over Europe. His refusal to yield to Irish Government policy was bound to lead to a confrontation. The Bishop of Raphoe, Bishop Hegarty, embarrassed by this uppity and outspoken priest, banished Fr. Ó Péicín from Tory.
Devastated by their loss, but bolstered by the confidence that Fr. Ó Péicín had instilled in them, the people of Tory continued to campaign for their rights. Today, they are a proud and thriving community, no small thanks to an incorrigible priest who stood up to a government which had been content to allow another island community to perish.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam úasal.
Caroline
