Climate change compounding coastal change says Eamon Ryan

Parts of Sandymount, Clontarf and Sutton in Dublin, the east coast railway line, and areas of Wexford are among those threatened by rising sea levels, coastal change and heavier rainfall, Minister for Climate Change Eamon Ryan has said.

Mr Ryan was responding to a report on managing future coastal change which warned sea levels are rising at about 3.5cm per decade and that for a 1.5°C rise in temperature, the global average sea level could rise by about one metre by 2100, with significant changes on coastlines.

The Report of the Inter-Departmental Group on National Coastal Change Management Strategy noted existing arrangements are already in place in relation to the risks of coastal flooding, but it said “there is no ongoing monitoring of Ireland’s changing coast that encompasses all of the various risks”.

The report said policies around “managed retreat”, which is a co-ordinated move away from affected areas of the coast, must be developed now, instead of waiting for an emergency situation to arise.

Mr Ryan said “we want to keep as many of our people in their homes as possible, and if we manage this, I believe we can avoid that [emergency situation]”.

But he warned protecting property would not be possible in “every single case”, saying “there will be some houses that are exposed”.

“Reducing that number is our first goal. We do know this report that has been published gives us a clear indication as to what we need to do and the scale of the risk it is. It is compounded by what’s happening with climate change.”

He said earlier reports had identified coastal areas such as Sandymount and Clontarf as being at risk of flooding and he particularly mentioned the low level spit at Sutton which links to the Howth Peninsula.

Mr Ryan also noted coastal erosion which threatened the east coast railway line at Bray Head and Wicklow Town in Co Wicklow, as well as in Co Wexford. He also referred to the recent flooding in parts of Co Cork and Co Louth as being part of the impact of climate change.

When asked if the Government was moving away from mitigation and flood relief schemes and putting the onus on families to move to higher ground, Mr Ryan said it was not just flood protection measures that were needed in terms of culverts and the building of walls in towns. It was looking at the “whole of the river basin, from mountain right down to the sea”. This would require a much wider adaptation strategy to adapt to a climate changing world.

Mr Ryan told RTÉ Radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show on Tuesday there were some parts of the coast where there would be great pressures because they were low lying. They could be protected by building barriers. But that might not be enough.

“There are specific measures we can take in locations like that . . . but it is a long term issue. It’s not immediate. There are other areas, for example, on the rail line south of Greystones, we know on the Wexford, the Wicklow coast there we have a particular problem with the rail line being so close to the sea and so it’s not insignificant the work that would need to be done. In some cases it’s very significant civil works and it has to be done, managed in a methodical way.”