An idea for us from the Island of Dursey

There is no Planet B, the non-adventurous types keep reminding everyone. For the inhabitants of Dursey Island that lies at the southwest of mainland Ireland, their 5.6 sq km home can seem like a planet. Now, they may be facing a calamity. All 2 full-time residents, 15 people with holiday homes and 5 farmers who keep their livestock on this island have threatened to leave Planet Dursey if the cable car, the only connection to the mainland outside ferry service that is subject to weather conditions, is not repaired. The cable car has been out of service since March, with Cork County authorities first promising that it would be operational by November, and now ho-hummingly pushing it to 'early next year'. For all practical purposes, Dursey's cattle may soon starve and its people abandon the island. This would mean leaving Dursey bereft of human habitation for the first time since 1602 - after English troops massacred its Irish inhabitants - 367 years before the cable car started services in 1969.

Dire circumstances can lead to dire consequences. But in this direness, perhaps the people of Dursey may be ironically fortunate. In our fair land, crumbling roads, collapsing houses, gagging air and life-threatening vehicular traffic aren't enough for anyone to up and leave for, say, Canada. So, unlike Durseyians, (most of) grin and bear it.