An offshore sea defence consisting of enormous Y-shaped structures will be used for the first time in Ireland to protect an area of north Dublin coastline where houses are in danger of falling into the sea.
Fingal County Council is expected to invest between €30 million and €35 million on seven of the fishtail groynes along a 1.3km stretch at the Burrow peninsula near the seaside village of Portrane.
An increase in the frequency of easterly storms over recent years has led to significant coastal erosion in the area. One house has already been lost, while others are in danger of collapsing because of rising sea water.
The council has already installed concrete armour along the entire span of the beach as a temporary protection measure. However, its landscape officer, Kevin Halpenny, said the groynes would provide permanent protection to the beach and coast from storms and from tide surges.
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Fishtail groynes are large concrete structures shaped like a Y. They will each extend outwards to sea by approximately 70m, with the two arms extending to about the same distance. They will be placed about 135m apart and will be buried under the sand at the beach end.
“They will manage the energy of storms and waves coming in from the sea in such a way to protect the beaches,” said Halpenny. “It’s an established way around Europe for dealing with the energy of the sea and they are very effective.”
It is the first time this technology has been used in Ireland. A similar system has worked effectively in Clacton-on-Sea on the Essex coast in England.
Minister for Climate Darragh O’Brien and Minister of State for the Office of Public Works Kevin Boxer Moran visited the area today to announce that the project was now going to planning.
They were joined by Mayor of Fingal Tom O’Leary, who said the application would be submitted to An Coimisiún Pleanála, the planning body, this week.
“I met one gentleman who has lost six acres of land to the sea. I was here a few years ago, standing on the cliff edge with a woman who was crying, because her house was gone,” said O’Leary.
“There is a house right [on the cliff] which is in danger of being lost.”
O’Leary said a cost-benefit analysis had been done on the project, which he said concluded it was necessary.
“We have to do it to protect more than 60 families living here. It makes sense and it’s the right thing to do.”
Moran said coastal protection and flooding would present a bigger issue for the State now and into the future than river flooding. He said similar systems would be required in future for other sections of the Irish coast.
