Right-of-way to be reopened at popular Munster seaside village

Local river cruise operator Tony Gallagher at the recently closed steps in Ardmore, Co Waterford.

Waterford City and County Council says it will shortly restore a recently closed right of way at one of its busiest tourist resorts.

The council says it closed the set of steps in Ardmore as a temporary measure pending installation of a protective barrier against a near two-metre drop on one side.

The passageway between the village’s ‘middle road’ and the ‘New Line’ roadway 4.5 metres above has existed for over 120 years and is much used by locals.

It is also popular amongst holiday home owners, second home investors and general tourists, who flock to the village in their thousands.

Its sudden closure, without warning or explanation, infuriated locals.

Senior engineer for roads Gabriel Hynes told May’s Dungarvan-Lismore municipal district meeting that he expected the remedial work to begin “in about a fortnight”.

Ardmore-based Councillor Tom Cronin said he feared “we would be opening ourselves to an all merciful battle with the courts” if the danger wasn’t rectified.

Mr Hynes confirmed that negotiations pertaining to another set of steps, which form a right of way between the five-star Ardmore Cliff Hotel and the New Line, will be held this week.

It is hoped that council engineers and their counterparts representing a nuns’ order responsible for maintaining a boundary wall, will agree measures to facilitate the restoration of a route that has been almost permanently closed since 2017.

With three parallel roads traversing its hillsides and a plethora of trails and pathways, Ardmore has a long tradition of small, public leeways.

Perhaps more than any aversion to roundabout journeys, locals regard these routes as “integral to the character and heritage of the village and its surrounds”, explains local river cruise operator Tony Gallagher.

Recent events have re-awakened awareness of this heritage, including claims that public access points to at least two nearby beaches have been lost to private interests.

Waterford Mayor Damien Geoghegan told May’s municipal district that he had received several such claims and would be seeking a report from the council’s roads department on the overall situation.