This tight community also did have to accept a high loss to the value of their properties as their houses became unsaleable. It is a mystery to me how all property owner would accept this, when only one or two have an improved view.
Why do you care if your house is "worth" $50k or $1m?
Maybe you don't have kids to inherit it. Maybe you consider yourself at home where you're living, so you wouldn't want to sell it anyway.
In those cases the cost of the property is more academic as the real value is the community and any sentimental elements (eg "my grandfather built this"/"5 generations of kids were born in this house", etc)
Maybe the real reason why nobody spoke out was the fact that the guy flattening the house was Tory’s biggest employer. The hotel Óstan Thóraigh has been at the centre of island life since the late 1800s. The hotel and general store was supplying everything from salted fish to marine chandlery to the island.
The hotel is for sale now. It didn't survived Covid. See https://www.irishpost.com/news/irelands-stunning-tory-island...