The Chairman of the Dursey Island Development Association has said that if the island's cable car is not reopened soon, cattle there face starvation and the island could soon be abandoned for the first time in 420 years.
Concerns are mounting that the lights are about to be switched off at what is the country's most southwesterly island, with island stakeholders preparing to leave as the island gets more difficult to access.
Last March, the Dursey Island Cable Car – the only such one in Ireland – was closed to allow for crucial safety works to be carried out.
While locals say Cork County Council had promised to have it reopened last month, it remains closed and it is unclear when it will be up and running again.
Farmers on the island say if the cable car is not up and running by 1 February, their cattle will face starvation.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Martin Sheehan, a third-generation farmer on the island, said there were two full-time residents on the islands, as well as 20 stakeholders - being 15 people with holiday homes and five people farming who would not have property.
"The gist of it is that it was announced last February that the cable car was closing for maintenance work, and were promised it would be up and running by November," he said.
"The next bit of information was three weeks ago that it would not be up and running until early 2023.
"The long and the short of it is that farming is the only industry we have out there. We have no other, that's my sole income. Every bale of hay, every bag of animal feed is taken out by cable car.
"The sheep will survive for the winter. They graze the mountain on their own but the cows – there's about 60 of them – they'll start to calve in the Spring, January at a stretch, the first week of February. After that they'll be on their own and facing starvation, that's the reality of the situation."
Mr Sheehan said there is a ferry option three days a week, but that "this was a lottery at the best of times", given the island's location.
In the wintertime, he said, it was near impossible given there was "nothing in front of you but the bare Atlantic".
Mr Sheehan appealed for people to help locals repair a broken derrick.
"There is a derrick standing idly by that’s not fit for purpose. If there was a working derrick there that could all be avoided and that's the last lifeline we have, to have a chance of looking after our livestock and keep them surviving the winter," he said.
He added: "If that [replacing the derrick] doesn't happen, then the game is over and there'll be a serious accident, that's the situation we’re at now".
Asked how real the danger was that the island could be abandoned, Mr Sheehan said there were a few people with holiday homes leaving, as well as a man in his 80s.
"You couldn't live in those conditions. Apart from the physical side of it, it's not good for your mental state either. It would test your wellbeing to the limit," he added.
He said it was ironic he was speaking on the subject on what is 53 years to the day since the original car was opened by then-Taoiseach Jack Lynch.
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In a statement, Cork County Council said the contract to replace the cable car's tower infrastructure is close to completion and work is ongoing to replace or refurbish the remaining key components of the infrastructure.
It said a date for the resumption of the cable car service will be confirmed once all components are in place and consent has been granted by the Commission for Railways Regulation to operate the cable car following completion of all necessary works.
The council said a ferry operator was contracted to provide a temporary ferry service fort he duration of the works, which continues to operate subject to weather conditions.
