Climate change, rising sea levels and erosion are a real threat to the coastline of Ireland.
Climate change brings more intense storm frequency, which will further damages the Irish coastline.
The Marine Institute has produced digital aerial photographs which when compared with ordinance survey maps from the 1920s provide a view of the a changing Irish coast. The east of the country has been identified as one area under pressure, with Rosslare Harbour a particular case in point.
Christy Doyle whose house and garden overlook Rosslare Harbour has seen acres of land being washed away over the last six decades. Now just twelve metres separate him from the sea, and the future is uncertain.
We're here over sixty years, I wouldn’t like to go now.
Beaches are the best natural protection against erosion, but sand dunes are being damaged by too many people walking on them.
Coastal engineer with Enterprise Ireland Brendan Dollard warns that the increase in sea levels and coastal development put pressure on the seashore to such an extent that,
There’s a likelihood that the beach could be lost altogether.
One thing that all lobby groups agree on is the establishment of a national coastal authority to protect the coastline. Two reports on coastal zone management have been published in the last eight years, and while the most recent one is still under consideration by the Department of the Marine, no action has been taken to date.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 19 January 1999. The reporter is Aoife Kavanagh.
