Residents say travellers seeking a safe haven put them at risk and have appealed to ferry services to halt operations

It is a familiar trope in films and books about apocalypse: as the world totters, people flee to a small island and hunker down, hoping the remoteness will offer a haven until the threat has passed.

A romantic notion, but if you’re eyeing one of Ireland’s offshore islands as a refuge from coronavirus be warned the locals would rather you stay away.

Residents of Achill, Aran and Rathlin have expressed alarm at being labelled sanctuaries on social media and have appealed to outsiders to steer clear.

“We conducted a poll and the overwhelming response was people would rather that tourism is halted,” said Máire Uí Mhaoláin, manager of a community development co-op on the Aran Islands, in the Atlantic off the coast of Galway. “We feel we don’t have the resources to deal with an outbreak here.”

The three Aran islands, Inis Mór, Inis Meáin and Inis Oírr, have a combined population of 1,300, many elderly inhabitants and just two doctors.

Belfast Chauffeur Drive (@BelfastDrive) The Island of #Rathlin off the coast of County Antrim, with the Scottish coastline behind. The perfect place to self isolate. @BelfastDrive #BusinessAsUsual #SelfIsolation #selfquarantine #COVID19 #Coronavirus #coronavirusus #covid19UK #covidireland pic.twitter.com/ghfZ4rVBBq

If the coastguard had to evacuate a patient with coronavirus the crew would then have to go into quarantine, leaving the islands even more vulnerable, said Uí Mhaoláin. “Normally we welcome tourism but we are taking an opportunity to ask people to not visit.”

Islanders have asked for – and received – a commitment from private ferry operators to curb services and restrict the number of visitors.

“This request is being made in an attempt to minimise both the short-term and the long-term effect this disease will have on these beautiful islands and their peoples,” Aran Island Ferries said.

However, a state-owned ferry service has continued operating, citing a public service mandate that can be overruled only with an official lockdown, which has not been declared.

Rathlin Island Ferry (@RathlinFerry) COVID-19 updated statement 22/03/20 pic.twitter.com/F3knMaryEg

That allowed the arrival last week of a group of visitors who rented a cottage, said Uí Mhaoláin. “I think they were Irish, a bunch of young people.”

Residents on Rathlin, an island off the coast of County Antrim, with a population of 135 and no known case of Covid-19, have also restricted ferry services to essential travel in an effort to discourage tourists. The ferry terminal at Ballycastle, on the Northern Ireland mainland, closed to the public on 23 March.

Some residents of Achill island, which is connected to the rest of County Mayo by a bridge, have been appalled by visitors who have flocked to beaches and ignored physical distancing recommendations.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Turf cutting on Achill Island, connected to the rest of County Mayo by a bridge. Photograph: scenicireland.com/Christopher Hill Photographic//Alamy

“Achill Island is not a safe haven,” tweeted one local. “It is a top-heavy residential community of venerable elderly people … We have seen the arrival of an enormous amount of out-of-towners. Some are showing such disregard for the guidelines … You are not on holidays!”

Chris McCarthy, Achill’s tourism manager, echoed the criticism. “A lot weren’t adhering to the HSE (Health Service Executive) directives – it’s not good to see.”

Visitors that respected guidelines were still welcome, he said, but they should know the island was no haven from the pandemic.

Two people have been diagnosed with coronavirus, said McCarthy, and they want the public to know the disease has arrived. “They want it out there that just that because we’re isolated it doesn’t mean it can’t get here.”

A local GP, Noreen Lineen-Curtis, said Achill needed to take measures like anywhere else.

The comedian David O’Doherty told the Irish Times he brought his elderly parents to the family’s cottage in Achill. “It’s isolation, but isolation with a lot more space than you would get in the city. it’s my favourite place on earth, it really is, which is why it’s a weird place to be stuck in an apocalypse.”