€30m bill to protect eroding Kerry coast

IT COULD cost more than €30 million to protect Kerry’s most vulnerable stretches of coastline from erosion, a report has estimated.

However, the council has no money to do the work and Government coffers are empty. A mere €3m was available for coastal protection, nationally, last year.

The crisis was graphically highlighted this week when erosion created a new, five-acre island at Rossbeigh, cutting off a large chunk of the sand dune area at a popular blue flag beach just off the Ring of Kerry.