No, Ireland won’t pay you to move to an island; it offers grant money to fix up vacant homes

Would you move to a beautiful home on a remote Ireland island if the country paid you $90,000 to live there?

That’s the deal one Nov. 22 Facebook post said is yours for the taking.

"Ireland will pay you $90,000 to move to a beautiful island home," said text overlaid on the post’s photo of two houses  with water views on a luscious green landscape.  The post’s caption said, "Dreamy island life with a paycheck - Ireland’s calling!"

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The Facebook post linked to an article on a website called Birds Advice, which used the same language in its headline. Although the article mentions Our Living Islands, a real Irish government policy, it misstates what it offers — the government isn’t paying anyone to move to an Irish island.

(Screenshot from Facebook)

Ireland’s Department of Rural and Community Development in June 2023 launched an Our Living Islands initiative. 

Department of Rural and Community Development spokesperson Céimin Burke said "no payments are being offered to encourage people to move to any of Ireland’s islands."

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Burke said, "Rather than encouraging relocation, the aim of the Our Living Islands policy is to reverse the trend of depopulation on offshore islands by supporting vibrant and sustainable island communities." 

The initiative aims to do that with investments in infrastructure, essential services and housing on remote islands, which are cut off from Ireland’s mainland by the tide.

A grant program in the initiative seems to have caused confusion about Ireland paying people to move there. Ireland doesn’t pay anyone to move to an island, but it does offer Vacant Property Refurbishment Grants for people who renovate vacant and derelict property and then live there or offer the homes as long-term rentals.

That grant program existed before the Our Living Islands initiative and is used throughout Ireland. Under the plan, an additional 20% above typical grant ceilings is available because of home construction’s increased costs on outlying islands, Burke said. The maximum grant under the island program is 84,000 euros, which is about $88,000 U.S. dollars. The money must be used only for renovation.

The grant program to refurbish vacant homes is open to foreign nationals, but it provides no assistance to move there. 

"Our Living Islands does not include any proposals or schemes to facilitate immigration or resettlement to Ireland’s offshore islands, and therefore the residency requirements are the same as the rest of Ireland," Burke said.

Ireland’s residency requirements allow people to move to Ireland if they make financial investments in the country, or to retire there if they can prove they are financially independent.

A Facebook post claimed "Ireland will pay you $90,000 to move to a beautiful island home," but it misleads on what the country offers. As part of an effort to halt population decline on its remote islands, Ireland may grant about $88,000 for people who buy or already own vacant or derelict property and refurbish it. They must then live in those homes or rent them out long-term.

We rate the claim False.