OPW rejects calls for safety railing to summit of ancient monastic site

THE Office of Public Works (OPW) has rejected a call for a rope railing to be provided along steps leading to the summit of an ancient monastic site off the Kerry coast.

Fianna Fáil Cllr Michael Cahill had called for the railing as a safety measure for thousands of tourists that go onto the Great Skellig, each year.

The cone-shaped rock rises 700 feet out of the Atlantic and has monastic remains dating to the sixth century.

Visitors have to climb more than 600 stone steps to reach the top, which contains ruins and well-preserved beehive huts that are part of a hermits’ settlement believed to have been established by St Fionán.

However, an OPW spokesman yesterday said they had no plans for a safety railing.

“A railing could compromise the historic integrity of the rock and the steps are almost a monument in themselves,” he stated.

“We’re aware, however, that the rock is dangerous and have put up signs warning people of that. They’re warned before they go up.”

But, Cllr Cahill said the rock was open to the elements and was particularly dangerous on wet and windy days.

“There’s absolutely no protection for people going up the steps to the summit,’ he added.