Aran island one of the world’s most liveable communities

 Galway’s idyllic and picturesque island of Inis Oírr has been named as one of the World’s ‘most liveable communities’ at a prestigious awards ceremony in China.

 The smallest of the three Aran Islands scooped two awards at the LivCom International Awards for Liveable Communities at a ceremony held in the city of Xiamen this week.

A group from the island and Galway County Council, led by the Mayor of County Galway, County Councillor Liam Carroll, accepted the gongs at the glittering event on Monday.

In the A category, which is for populations of up to 20,000, Inis Oírr beat off completion from eight other Chinese communities that were shortlisted as well as Julianstown in Northern Ireland, Agueda in Portugal and Birdhill in County Tipperary.

It won gold for category A, which was judged on a broad a range of criteria including environmental best practice, the healthy lifestyle of its citizens, and community involvement as well as arts and cultural heritage. The islanders also won the Criteria Awards for a healthy lifestyle.

LivCom Head Judge Rob Small who presented the awards described Inis Oírr as a “delightful island community”.  He said as well as the overall award in its category it won a further award for its best practice in promoting and sustaining healthy lifestyles.

“One of the challenges of isolated communities like Inis Oírr is to ensure that they stay connected to the world. But there is a pride generated in such communities which can also contribute to good health in itself. This community showed leading edge approaches across all LivCom criteria,” added the head judge.

Meanwhile, Galway Councillor Tom Welby has called on for the proposal for a fish farm off the island to be withdrawn following this success.

Read more in today’s Connacht Tribune