Special Report: Hope after all for Rossbeigh sand dunes destroyed by 2008 storms

In the final part of our special series on the impact of coastal erosion, Padraig Hoare, Environmental and Sustainability correspondent, hears about efforts to stem the tide at the magnificent Rossbeigh beach in Co Kerry, helped along in the healing powers of Mother Nature, and how funding could further help aid those efforts

Dr Jimmy Murphy, Senior Lecturer in the School of Engineering at UCC, pointing towards the area where the sand dunes were breached iin the storms of 2008 at Rossbeigh beach in Kerry. Picture: Dan Linehan

On the face of it, the mass eroding of the sand dunes in Rossbeigh strand near Glenbeigh in Kerry is a worrying sight — but research being done for the past 12 years suggests there is hope for it after all.

In 2008, ferocious storms breached the dunes at Rossbeigh, causing consternation as a gaping hole left hundreds of metres exposed, putting homes across the bay at risk as climate change threatened even more frequent extreme events.