A popular stretch of coastline near Wicklow town could disappear within decades due to global warming, Wicklow County Council has warned.
Records held by the council indicate that the Murrough, a 1.5 kilometre strip of land with a shingle beach, has suffered more coastal erosion since 1995 than it did in the previous 80 years.
One of the most popular fishing and walking areas in the vicinity, it was severely damaged again by storms earlier this month, with five metre chunks of it washed away by high tides, heavy winds and lashing rain.
Council staff fear that the increasing frequency of such severe storms in Ireland could see the erosion continue at a rate of more than a metre each year, and believe most of the grass strip, part of which is a nature reserve, could disappear in less than 50 years.
They are also concerned that little State funding is available for coastal amenity sites and officials have sought an urgent meeting with the Minister for Communications, the Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Dempsey.
The council is seeking funding for a feasibility study to establish how to protect against further erosion without destroying its amenity value. The council is also to meet Iarnród Éireann, whose rail line, now 40 metres from the beach, is also threatened by the erosion. Farther north near Greystones, the line is in serious jeopardy from coastal erosion, and was closed for four days because of flooding this month.
Hundreds of people use the Murrough for fishing and walking every day, and with proposals for a doubling in the population of the town over the next 10 years, it is believed that such amenities will be increasingly important.
According to the records of the council, the Murrough lost 37 metres of its width to the sea between 1838 and 1906. Between 1906 and 1991 it lost a further 12 metres. Since then it has lost up to 22 metres in some cases, most of it in a storm in January 1996 and earlier this month.
According to Mr Philip Duffy of the council, who grew up in Wicklow, the level of erosion is striking and is highlighted by the Monkey Pole landmark, a large telegraph-style pole that was put there as an aid in case of sea rescues.
It was moved farther inland in the 1950s or 1960s because of erosion, he said. Then, nine years ago, after the last major storm damage, the pole was five metres from the shingle beach. After the storms of early November, it is now at the edge of the beach.
"You'll never get that back," Mr Duffy said. The fact that so much damage had occurred in recent years was a major fear, he said.
"That's the danger. Two or three storms could conceivably take much of the grass area away. We just don't know. It could take 100 years, or it could take 20."
The council was also concerned that any protection works do not cause further damage. Rock armour coastal defences nearer the port are believed to have exacerbated the erosion further north at the Murrough.
"It's not just a simple case of putting up more rock armour. You could just move the damage further along the coast," Mr Duffy said. "It's a very complex area and you have to be very careful not to do more damage than good."
Coastal erosion is a particular problem for Co Wicklow, with most of its coastline designated as "soft" or vulnerable.
There have been major erosion problems in Greystones, the beach at Brittas Bay, and south of Arklow.