Council owed €2m for coastal works

NO FURTHER coastal protection works will be carried out by Kerry County Council until it receives €2 million it is owed by the Government, the council has warned.

Last year, the council spent €4m on emergency works to protect the public roadway at Inch in the Dingle Peninsula but is still awaiting reimbursement.

A grant of almost €1m was received but central Government is committed to paying 75% of the total cost, which leaves a €2m shortfall.

Due to the urgency of the Inch situation, the council claimed it had to spend its own money on the work before government money could come through.

Fine Gael councillor John Sheahan, saying there were serious erosion problems all around the Kerry coastline, called for the allocation of €10m for a protection scheme.

He was supported by Fianna Fáil councillor Michael Cahill who accused the Government of “virtually totally ignoring” a growing problem in Kerry.

“In the early 1990’s, the then county engineer in Kerry said £14m (€ 17.6m) was needed to deal with the problem. But very little has come since and the situation is now much worse,” he claimed.

“All of which shows the Government is not giving the problem the priority it deserves. Erosion is obvious to the naked eye all around the coastline.”

Mr Cahill, from Rossbeigh, on the Ring of Kerry, said the Rossbeigh Spit (sand dunes area) was in grave danger and probably the worst case in the county.

“In three generations, the amount of land in the spit, which is also a Special Area of Conservation, has been reduced from about 360 acres to 130 acres,” he said.

“At its narrowest point, there are just 14 yards between the front beach and the back beach, at Rossbeigh. If the spit goes, there will be flooding in low-lying areas around Glenbeigh.

“The need for major protection works is obvious, but no effort is being made. Tourists and local people walking along the beach can all see the problem,” he added.

Kerry has about 12% of the country’s coastline and has a large amount of soft coastline — including sand dunes, glacial cliffs and marine wetlands — which is highly vulnerable to erosion.

Top golf links in Kerry, such as Ballybunion, Tralee, Dooks and Waterville, are engaged in a continuing battle with the elements and have spent millions of euro in protecting their facilities from erosion in recent years.