Investigates Coastal ErosionTHE NUMBER OF homes at risk of falling into the sea due to coastal erosion has jumped by 173% in just five years, The Journal Investigates can reveal.
The huge hike is detailed in an internal Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) report which warns 2,279 properties are currently in danger from eroding shorelines — an increase of 1,445 since 2017.
The report, obtained by The Journal Investigates, said the surge of impacted homes is “likely an underestimate”, as just half of local authorities impacted by coastal erosion were able to provide data.
The figures are based on a Climate Action Regional Office (CARO) study of Ireland’s 19 coastal councils, which found a 58% increase in properties lost to the sea between 2017 and 2022.
It also found that five councils are still allowing residential and commercial premises to be built on erosion hotspots.
Details of the internal DECC document can be brought to light as The Journal Investigates reveals how experts believe a lack of government action to date means little can now be done to save vulnerable coastal properties and roads.
The Office of Public Works (OPW) said while it is responsible for the “technical aspects of assessing coastal change impacts”, matters associated with coastal change and erosion are “generally” the responsibility of local authorities.
According to the DECC commissioned report, councils now predict that by 2050, thousands more properties will be at risk – 4,446 nationally – an increase of 2,167 from previous estimates.
Approximately 570.5 km of roads have also been deemed in danger, an increase of 265 km since 2017, the report stated.
“Again, this is the best estimate only and likely an underestimate given that only 10 of the 19 Local Authorities responded to this particular question,” it said.
Of the councils surveyed, 14 said coastal erosion had worsened in their areas.
“This shows the huge challenge currently facing coastal local authorities, which will only escalate into the future with the predicted increase and frequency in storm surges and sea-level rise,” it added.
The report concluded that a lack of resources, “varied” council approaches to erosion, along with a lack of national guidance was negatively impacting on how local authorities dealt with the problem.
It recommended that a scoping study be carried out alongside the affected councils, with delivery of a guidance document as a “first step” to develop a training programme for local authorities.
“The problem is such a local level problem, but we need an all Ireland approach to this,” Mary Bourke, Associate Professor of Geography at Trinity College Dublin, told The Journal Investigates.
“Our coastline doesn’t recognise local borders, whether council borders or national borders.”
Bourke emphasised the ineffectiveness of long-term erosion prevention and the high costs of short-term solutions.
“I think we all need to recognise that we’re in a phase of adapting, rather than fixing or engineering our landscape,” she said.
There’s just so little that can be effectively done.
“We can stop erosion for a number of years, but they’re not enough.
“They’re not enough for your families to grow up. Eventually, your home will erode into the sea depending on where you live,” she said.
The Trinity academic said that realistically, the government should be looking at implementing managed retreat in Ireland’s worst affected areas, including the hard hit east coast.
“The reality is, I don’t think that there is a lot that can be done, and I feel so sad for the people who live there and who invested there,” she said.
“My advice going forward in the future is, do not buy property close to the coastline unless you’re prepared to lose it and maybe very, very quickly.”
One north Co Dublin coastal community knows the devastating impact of coastal erosion all too well.
Since 2020, residents of The Burrow in Portrane have watched helplessly on as their homes edge closer and closer to the sea.
Entire gardens have been lost, and at least one homeowner has been forced to abandon their property.
Despite the situation being described as a “critical emergency” by Duncan Smith TD in Dáil Éireann earlier this year, impacted residents say they have been left in limbo by authorities.
Louise Duffy, whose home is one of those affected, said:
I think there’s a feeling that we’re just kind of being strung along.
“And to be honest, even at the time, if they had been honest with us and said, we’re not going to do anything here, we would have preferred that.”
Fingal County Council said it has put emergency interventions in place in the area while it awaits planning permission for longer term measures to prevent erosion.
One intervention being used by the council – which says coastal erosion is the remit of OPW – is the installation of large concrete blocks along the beach.
Known as ‘Sea Bees’, the blocks break the force of the waves hitting the long line of properties overlooking the Irish Sea.
However, the blocks don’t cover all properties at risk, and while temporarily protecting some homes, the structures have heightened erosion around others, according to some residents.
“The force of the waves hitting the Sea Bees where they are was driving it down our end of the beach,” Duffy explained.
“So it was making the rate of erosion faster on the dunes in front of our homes.”
In September, Fingal informed its Coastal Liaison Committee that six properties along Portrane’s Brook Beach are now in “imminent danger”.
“We have reached crisis point in Portrane,” Corina Johnston, a councillor for the area, told The Journal Investigates.
“Unless emergency coastal protection measures are carried out along the beach and an alternative access route is found for the homes fronting Beach Lane, it is inevitable that a number of homes will have to be evacuated.”
The council told the committee that it had applied to Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) for a Coastal Flooding and Erosion Risk Management (CFERM) Project at The Burrow in July.
Should it be approved, a planning application for a permanent Coastal Protection Scheme will be submitted to the An Bord Pleanála, the council said.
However, any permanent scheme could be “years away” from completion, Johnston said.
“Duncan Smith TD raised the need for emergency protection measures with the Tanaiste in Dáil Éireann last April,” the Labour councillor said.
“Arising from this intervention, the OPW in further response confirmed it is open to Fingal County Council to seek additional funding for emergency works through The Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme. “
However, for some Portrane residents, it is already too late.
Louise Duffy is now moving away from the area after resigning herself to the fact her home will eventually be lost to the sea. She told The Journal Investigates:
It’s not if, it’s when.
“I’m lucky in that I don’t have the financial burden of a mortgage, it’s more the emotional attachment of losing our family home.
“But there are neighbours that have mortgages, and they’ll just have to walk away from their house and have a massive debt.
“And there’s no talk of any financial compensation for when the houses do go.”
In response, a Fingal County Council spokesperson told The Journal Investigates that it is in “regular contact” with the community about the issues raised over erosion.
“The Council, in consultation with its specialist consultants and other relevant stakeholders, is continuing to assess options for the protection of the coastline at the Burrow Beach having regard to the particular constraints which apply at this location,” the spokesperson added.
The Journal Investigates asked the OPW what it was doing to address the community’s concerns about the future of their homes, and the area.
A spokesperson said the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, had personally addressed the matter in Dáil Éireann last month.
In response to a question by Dublin-Fingal TD Duncan Smith, O’Brien said he had met with, and visited residents in The Burrow as recently as the summer.
“Fingal County Council has been engaged in developing solutions to respond to the coastal erosion issues in Portrane for a number of years,” he said.
“Other coastal risks such as related to transport, agricultural, business, are addressed locally and through sectoral responses.”
Responding to the national challenges of coastal erosion, O’Brien stated “there is a need for a framework to inform key decisions as to how the State should best manage its changing coast having regard to such future risks.”
Fingal is one of a number of councils which continue to approve planning applications on vulnerable coastlines.
When asked by The Journal Investigates how many it had approved or rejected in areas where coastal erosion has been identified between 2021 and 2024, a spokesperson was unable to provide us with any data.
However, the council added: “All planning applications are publicly available via our online planning portal, and show what has been given approval or what has been rejected.”
Joan Hopkins, a Social Democrats representative on the council, said over 4,000 homes and businesses are located on the Fingal coastline.
“We already have a legacy issue where we have homes beside the coast that we need to protect, but on top of that, we’re building more houses on the coast,” she said.
“It’s just not practical to build as close to the coast, and governments are still allowing that to happen, Fingal are still giving planning permission for buildings beside the sea.
We need to be thinking about, not even long term, but the medium term and that’s not just in Fingal, but across Ireland.
In response, a Fingal spokesperson said planning applications are assessed on “their merits having regard to the relevant planning regulations and local planning requirements and the need for sustainable development”.
We also asked the other 18 coastal councils for the number of planning applications approved or rejected in erosion hotspots.
The majority were unable to provide any data, stating that they don’t keep databases on planning permissions approved or rejected in areas of coastal erosion, or for reasons of erosion.
Wexford County Council confirmed it had approved one planning application in that timeframe, and refused five others.
Sligo County Council said it had granted and refused zero applications, stating it does not approve building or development within 100 metres of a soft shoreline.
Clare County Council said it was unable to provide exact data on applications but confirmed that of the 22 properties currently at risk from erosion in the area, 10 are located within areas zoned for housing.
While Louth County Council said new developments within 100m of the coastline are prohibited unless it scientifically proven that the “likelihood of erosion at a specific location is minimal taking into account, inter alia, any impacts”.
Describing the continued building and development on vulnerable coastal areas as “frankly irresponsible”, Bourke said nature should be allowed to take its course.
“I mean, I know we need homes, but there’s no point in building on our flood plains, there’s no point in building in coastal areas that are actively retreating, these need to be set aside,” she said.
“One of the things you can do is, you can let nature do what it’s going to do, and it has a way of balancing itself out, reaching an equilibrium.”
Reporter: Patricia Devlin • Editor: Maria Delaney • Video Production: Nicky Ryan • Social Media: Sadbh Cox • Main Image Design: Lorcan O’Reilly
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