A rising Irish Sea and accelerating coastal erosion in Co Louth is worrying communities by the sea. Elaine Keogh reports.
As long as it continues to lose an acre a year to the sea, Louth is unlikely to be challenged for the title of Ireland's smallest county .
"Forty per cent of the coast in Louth is exposed to a high degree of erosion, 15 per cent of the coast is rocky and never erodes, and the rest of the coast is somewhere in between," according to Mr Donal Clarke, senior executive engineer with Louth County Council.
A study of the 94-kilometre coastline, which will give priority to those areas in need of coastal protection, has been done.
The consultants who carried out the study looked at photographs and field surveys of the coast, the role of easterly winds and at the waves which batter the 40 per cent of vulnerable coastline.
The continuing rise in the level of the Irish Sea is also a factor. It has risen some 250 mm in the past seven years, and this has added to the cutting power of the sea as it hits the shoreline.
"The rising sea level means the tidal action comes further inland and hits the end of the sand dunes. If they are undermined they collapse, and the wash takes them back out to sea and the ingress of water continues," said Mr Clark.
A stark example of the degree and speed of erosion is at Port, between the popular seaside villages of Clogherhead and Blackrock, where since 1999 the sea has claimed a further six to seven feet of land. This has left steps, which the council erected in 1999 to let people get onto the beach, literally in the middle of the sea.
As a local authority, Louth County Council is most concerned about public roads, property and other public amenities.
Part of the coast road at Whiteriver in the Cooley Peninsula was washed away following severe storms in February 2002. Such "extreme events" as they are categorised by engineers highlight the vulnerability of the coast and the proximity of roads to it in some areas.
The council rebuilt the entire road at Whiteriver, and received funding of €1.3 million from the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to address coastal protection works last year and for the remainder of this year.
It is understood 25 sites where land could be in danger of going into the sea have been identified, and the consultants' report is expected to form the basis for future protection works and subsequent applications for funding to the Department of the Marine.
The generosity of the Minister for the Marine, Mr Dermot Ahern, who is a TD for Louth, may be tested as a result of the estimated cost of developing a new walkway between Blackrock and Dundalk.
Just 3.2 kilometres long, the walkway would be adjacent to an existing embankment which was constructed as a coastal protection measure but is now in need of repair itself.
While the Department has funded €133,000 towards the project, a consultants' report presented to town councillors earlier this month identified eight possible development options, with a price of between €782,000 and €4.5 million.
"This development will have to be done over a number of years, and we will look for all opportunities for funding, including its role as a coastal protection work," said town engineer Ms Catherine Duff.