DURSEY ISLAND off west Cork will end up with no one living there if Cork County Council doesn’t ease a restriction on the movement of cattle to the island by cable car, local farmers warned yesterday as they protested at new regulations.

Martin Sheehan, who was born on Dursey but now lives on the mainland near Eyries, said the introduction by Cork County Council of new regulations governing the operation of the cable car threatens the future of farming on the island and the livelihoods of those living there.

“If Cork County Council presses ahead with this new regulation, there will be no sustainable farming inside in Dursey and without sustainable farming, Dursey will end up like the Blaskets – they might as well turn the island into a wildlife park,” he said.

Located at the end of the Beara Peninsula, Dursey Island is separated from the mainland by Dursey Sound, a treacherous stretch of water in winter.

The cable car takes 10 minutes to make the 374m journey from the mainland to the island.

Mr Sheehan explained that there are nine herd owners currently raising beef cattle and sheep on the 6.5km by 1.5km island and they use the cable car to transport fattened calves and lambs back and forth across Dursey Sound to the mainland for sale at the mart in Kenmare.

Up until the new regulations were announced, the cable car was allowed carry animals up to 540kg with an accompanying passenger.

However, since the new regulations came in, the weight restriction has been lowered to 440kg, despite the cable car being tested to take weights up to 1,000kg, he said.

But even more significantly, the council has decided to restrict the movement of animals to designated times during the winter months and warned staff operating the cable car that if they seek to facilitate farmers outside of these hours without management approval, they would face disciplinary procedures.

A Cork County Council spokeswoman said the regulations were to ensure the safety of all travelling on the car and she said the council would be flexible in terms of providing alternative travel times for farmers, if notified in advance. Funding was being put in place for an alternative ferry service to enable farmers to transport animals, she said.