Ireland - Concern coastal erosion could lead to sea water engulfing Cork village
Councillors told several areas of land along the region’s coastline are being eaten away by storms and rising sea levels
Rapidly increasing coastal erosion in East Cork could lead to sea water engulfing a village, while more farmland in the region is likely to collapse into the sea.
That could happen before two reports on how to tackle the issue are completed in 2026, a council meeting has heard.
The meeting of the East Cork Municipal District Council was told several areas of land along the region’s coastline are being eaten away by storms and rising sea levels.
According to Fine Gael councillor Michael Hegarty, the biggest concern in the area is that coastline erosion could soon lead to the village of Ballymacoda getting badly flooded during storms.
Independent councillor Mary Linehan-Foley said there was also serious coastal erosion between Knockadoon and Youghal, with land in the area “being decimated in the last few years".
She said in particular some property owners in Ring area, close to Ballymacoda, are literally watching their land collapsing into the sea. She said while this is distressing enough for them, they are very concerned about the safety of people who are walking below the cliff face.
If something isn’t done to address this soon, the village of Ballymacoda could be flooded. The erosion along the East Cork coastline has become very bad.
Two caravan owners regularly put in limestone boulders to protect their properties because if they didn’t, they’d be washed away,” Mr Hegarty said.
Ms Linehan-Foley asked whether landowners were allowed to intervene on their own to stabilise erosion on their coastal properties as it seemed to be a "grey area" in terms of legislation.
She added in her hometown of Youghal, which is extremely dependent on tourists, the Front Strand beach was being washed away because it did not have "rock armour" protection and the groins had rotted away, which meant the sand was being blown away from the beach.
Studies under way
Councillors were informed by senior council officials there were currently two studies under way to find the extent of coastal erosion and measures to address it in the region.
One, the Coastal Vulnerability Study is designed to map the vulnerability along the coastline. This will allow for the development of a prioritisation list of locations that may require interventions. This includes beach monitoring surveys to establish beach sediment transportation models. However, this study is unlikely to be completed until 2026.
A further coastal erosion ‘risk management study’ is being carried out with particular focus on households at potential risk at Pilmore, Youghal. This is being done in conjunction with the OPW.
