This chapter focuses on the transformation of Ireland's coastline from a tourism perspective, addressing first the context in which tourism occurs, the nature of visitor flows and change, the mix of visitor attraction and the position coastal tourism attractions and beaches play in overall visitor...

This chapter provides an introduction to modern concepts in island biogeography, factors that affect the presence of butterflies, and other organisms, on British and Irish islands. Colonization ability and migration capacity correlate with one another - to be good (bad) at one is often to be good...

This chapter considers the unusual nature of the British and Irish butterfly fauna and illustrate, even for such relatively small islands, how environmental gradients have affected their ranges, distributions and changes in geography over very short periods of time.

In this chapter, as a first step, a brief overview of all European islands is presented. These present an island biogeography context for the butterfly faunas of the British mainland and Ireland, the two micro-continents, which act as key sources of species for the host of surrounding satellite...

The current review confirms the findings of the original work (Dennis and Shreeve, 1996), particularly the ability of species to reach (transfer to) islands and the importance of mainland and larger island source populations for the persistence of species on smaller offshore islands. Knowledge...

This chapter examines the identity of women leaders in Northern Ireland in order to understand how these women managed to become leaders, against all traditional odds, and which events and life choices shaped their identity. In doing so, it elaborates how growing up in a rural context may nurture...

This chapter compares two different initiatives to tackle the social exclusion of the elderly in rural and urban areas in Northern Ireland, and highlights the importance of work as part of older men's identity after retirement. The chapter demonstrates how men are often more vulnerable to...

This chapter examines a general assumption that the development of heritage tourism alleviates or mitigates ethnic and cultural divisions, and is an instrument for reconciliation. The chapter uses the cases of the island of Ireland, Newfoundland, Cyprus, Macedonia, South Africa and specific...

The study presented in this book was undertaken as a means of ascertaining the key factors facilitating the development and acquisition of leadership skills among women leaders from rural areas of Northern Ireland. Two secondary questions guided the research design. First, what people,...

This introductory chapter identifies the gaps in the sociological literature relevant to the topic of rural women in leadership. It then introduces the research in Northern Ireland that aims to address these gaps in two ways: by providing insight into the developmental processes of rural women...