Locals in Greystones, Co Wicklow, are angry over the nearly four-year closure of the Bray to Greystones cliff walk.
The cliff walk has been closed since early 2021 after a section of around 14 metres of the clay fell into the sea.
Tánaiste Simon Harris chaired the inaugural meeting yesterday of the Bray to Greystones Cliff Walk Taskforce in Leinster House.
After nearly four years of inaction, Greystones local Peter Murtagh set up the "Friends of the Cliff Walk" last September.
He is adamant that the walk can be safely reopened to the public with minor alterations to the path to bring the cliff walk slightly further back from the sea at certain points.
"A short-term solution is moving the path maybe 15-20 feet inland. There's space to do that through all those briars along that bank there without huge difficulty."
Mr Murtagh's longer term solution is to move the entire path further inland via a compulsory purchase order by Wicklow County Council of the neighbouring farmland.
The landslide itself is just off the edge of the path. "It's like somebody took a bite out of the edge of the cliff," Mr Murtagh said.
Despite the sheer drop, Mr Murtagh said that he does feel safe standing beside it.
"You can't argue with the fact that nature is having an effect on this part of the coast. There is coastal erosion and there's a land drainage problem here," he said.
"Do I think it's going to collapse under my feet? No, I don't."
In a statement to RTÉ's Morning Ireland programme, Wicklow County Council said that the walk has been officially closed since March 2021 due to "a collapse of the soft clay cliff face on the southern side of the route.
"A further incident of a rock fall onto the northern side of the route in October 2022 exacerbated the closure," the statement reads.
Ways to reopen the cliff walk were examined by the council.
"The Council determined that in order to overcome the hazards associated with an unstable soft clay cliff face below the walk it would need to be rerouted inland; and to overcome the hazard of an unstable rock face above the walk rock stabilisation netting would need to be installed.
"Both proposed measures have proved problematic. The rerouting of the walk requires the use of private property."
Despite efforts by Wicklow County Council to close the trail by erecting signs and barriers at either end of the 7km cliff path, many walkers said they regularly go past the barriers.
Several people told Morning Ireland that they regularly walk along the entire cliff path and feel that it is safe. Others said they walked along until they found a barrier within the cliff path itself at which point they turn back the way they came.
"Despite the best efforts of Wicklow County Council to keep the walk closed via a series of warning signs and notices at the beginning and end of the route along with physical obstructions in the form of palisade fencing placed across the route, the public continue to access and use the route which is of particular concern along the hazardous locations," the statement reads.
"It remains closed from both sides as it is not safe to walk."
The council said that a length of the cliff walk of approximately 800 metres on the Greystones side is "very hazardous" due to a "substantial risk of collapse of the walk whilst people are on it".
On the Bray side of the walk, rock fall will require "localised stabilisation of the cliff face through the installation of rock bolts and rock netting in order to make it safe".
Another part of the walk on that side has started to crack and lean outwards and erosion is observable on the cliff face underneath the wall.
Friends of the Cliff Walk have erected their own signs warning people that the path is dangerous ahead.
Mr Murtagh said that he has lived in Greystones for more than 30 years and regularly walk the cliff path with his family and with children as a local Scouts' leader.
While walking with Mr Murtagh, he wore a yellow high-vis jacket and hat with his "Save Our Cliff Walk" logo. He said he is regularly stopped by walkers who thank him for his work in clearing the path and fixing fences that had blown onto the path.
"I haven't had a single person say you shouldn't be doing this," Mr Murtagh said.
"The overwhelming reaction, like100% reaction, is this is great. Thank you. It's great to see it open again."
In October, Friends of the Cliff Walk, presented their views on the walk to Wicklow County Council.
"It was highly critical of the councillors and the Council officials," Mr Murtagh said.
He believes that his local action is the reason Mr Harris mentioned it during the general election campaign and set up the taskforce.
Friends of the Cliff Walk was not invited to the first taskforce meeting, but they do hope to be involved.
"The Bray Greystones cliff walk is an integral part of our community and certainly when you start chatting to anybody around here and mention it, people are just really, really disappointed that it's closed."
Lourda Scott has been a councillor for the Greystone Municipal District on Wicklow County Council since 2019.
"I'm blue in the face raising it at council meetings at this point," she said.
"It's been brought up constantly. I can't even begin to say how much frustration there is at the slow rate of progress.
"There needs to be a solution brought to the table. We're not hearing the solution."
Cllr Scott said that she was aware that many people ignored the signage warning people of the danger of the cliff walk and following the alternative 10km route from Bray to Greystones which is not along the cliffs.
"It does worry me," she said.
"The Council have been very, very clear in saying to us that there's a very real danger of sudden subsidence with no warning."
Cllr Scott added that she believes coastal erosion will only worsen in the coming years due to the climate crisis and it will not just be Wicklow County Council that will need to find a solution to it.
She added: "We can't have these valuable amenities closed down, with no end-date in sight, to members of the public.
"It's very understandable that people take matters into their own hands and just keep walking."
Apart from the walkers, local businesses are also annoyed at the long closure of the Bray-Greystones cliff walk.
Nigel Spendlove owns and runs Spendlove's cafe just off the Greystones marina. He says the closure of the cliff walk has had a huge impact on his business.
Before the cliff path was closed, Mr Spendlove says he would have had customers who had just done the walk. His business is around 300 metres from the start of the trail.
"People who would come [from the walk] and say 'we'll pop in here and have a coffee, turn around and head back'."
Mr Spendlove says it is difficult to quantify how much business he has lost as a result of the closure of the cliff walk because Covid-19 was also impacting his business at the same time.
He says he is aware that some people continue to do the cliff walk in spite of it being closed. However, he believes this is mostly local and the fact it is advertised as closed means that many tourists do not come to Bray or Greystones that otherwise would have done.
Another local cafe owner, Claire Cullen of Fat Fox, said that she has noticed a huge difference in the six years she has been running, the difference due to the closure of the cliff walk.
"We're down in revenue between €500 and €600 a day, which is a huge amount," she said.
"You can see just visually on the road; you don't have the walkers coming up and down. The town is quieter."
Ms Cullen has lived in Greystones her entire life and believes the loss of the cliff walk has not only harmed businesses like hers but also the vibe of the town.
"It's a huge impact," she said, adding that she used to do the cliff walk every weekend before it closed.
"We're a small town. It's a coastal town. The water is an attraction and walking along the water from Bray to Greystones, it's so beautiful.
"Even on a a grey, dull day it's beautiful.
"That's a huge attraction, it should be utilised," she said.
Both Ms Cullen and Mr Spendlove say they have not been contacted by Wicklow County Council on how the cliff walk has impacted their business.
Ahead of the first taskforce meeting on reopening the cliff walk, Tánaiste and Greystones native Simon Harris said he was "keenly aware" that as the weather gets warmer, the need for the cliff walk to become operational again will become more pressing for both locals and businesses.
"I stand ready to do all I can as a TD for Wicklow to drive this reopening," he said.
