ALMOST 200 people from around the world have replied to an invitation from residents of Arranmore Island to come and live with them off the coast of Co Donegal.
Islanders say they are overwhelmed by the response to the appeal issued earlier this month to Australians and Americans.
In the last two days alone, 60 people have emailed expressing an interest in setting up home on the island.
The invitations were issued after Arranmore became the first Irish island to receive an offshore 'digital hub', making its connectivity as good as anywhere on the mainland.
Arranmore’s community council has compared the impact to the electrification of Ireland in the last century.
Islanders hope their new-found digital status will help reverse a decline in population which started with the famine 150 years go.
There are now just 469 people living on the island around four miles off Burtonport.
In their open invitation, the islanders invited those from the southern hemisphere to “swap brown snakes and great whites for acres of open (and safe) space”.
Arranmore native Neil Gallagher, chief executive of tech company Caped Koala Studios, listed the benefits of island life.
“Moving home has always been a dream but the fundamentals of connectivity for my line of work just made it impossible," he said.
"The digital hub means people working for tech companies like mine can now work on Arranmore. The set-up is as good as any city in the world, but the view is so much better."
In the “letter to America” version of the invitation, islanders boast of the “best driving in Ireland” and “seafood to rival the tastiest New England clam chowder”.
The invitations captured the imagination of mainstream media in Australia and the US.
The Sydney Morning Herald picked up the story under the headline “Sick of Australian Politics” while CNN highlighted Arranmore’s easy life with the promise that the commute to work will “only ever be five minutes”.
A spokesman for Arranmore community council said they were “stunned” by the response to their invitation.
“We’ve had 60 emails from people in the last two days alone and before than we had 118 emails. It’s a mix of people with family connections here and people who just like the idea of living on a remote island,” Brendan Greene said.
He added that islanders were delighted with the response.
“I don’t know how close we are to having people set up home here but we’re confident it will work,” he said.
