Mayo island wins National Social Enterprise Award

A MAYO island has picked up a top award at the National Social Enterprise Awards 2026.

Inishturk Community Club CLG was named Local and Community Development winner, recognising some of the incredible work that has been taking place on the island.

Inishturk Community Club is a community-owned social enterprise sustaining year-round life on the island through essential services, local employment and community facilities. It operates the island’s community centre, shop, bar, restaurant and visitor accommodation, while leading renewable energy, biodiversity, food security and resilience projects.

Minister of State Jerry Buttimer was on hand to present the awards in Limerick yesterday.

With a population of just 58 people, this is a huge achievement and wonderful recognition of what can happen when a small community works together with big ambitions.

Over the past few years, the community has been working toward a more resilient, sustainable and self-sufficient island. This ranges from planting hundreds of native trees and hedgerows and developing a food forest, to protecting biodiversity, preparing emergency packs that can be rolled out to vulnerable members of the community during severe storms or prolonged outages, investing in solar energy and finding new ways to reduce and reuse waste.

At the heart of everything is the community club and the staff and board who work hard to keep community facilities running, providing essential services for islanders while also welcoming visitors and creating employment. The income generated through these activities is reinvested back into the community, helping maintain services and develop new projects for the future.

And the community spirit and hands-on support of the wider Inishturk community has made all the projects possible, working in partnership with organisations including Food Forest Ireland, Trees on the Land, Inishturk Native Irish Honey Bee Sanctuary, Mayo County Council, Community Foundations Ireland and many others.

A spokesperson shared on the island's social media: “It’s not about one project. It’s about people, community, partnerships and lots of small things coming together to build something that will last.”