Dr Stephen Flood: Coastal communities can't be left to weather climate change alone

Government agencies and supporting bodies are not currently set up to nimbly react to the pressing needs of coastal communites, writes Dr Stephen Flood

Eugene Farrell, University of Galway, with Martin Lynch and Martha Farrell of the Maharees Conservation Association, standing next to the fence which has been erected to protect against the erosion of the sand dunes on Magherabeg Cut beach on the Maharees peninsula in West Kerry. Picture: Dan Linehan

On a crisp November morning in 2022, members of the Irish Climate Change Advisory Council Secretariat took a visit to a stunning location in West Kerry. We met with the Maharees Conservation Association to learn more about this beautiful coastal community and its mission to protect their main access road.

The 5km tombolo (a landform by which an island becomes attached to the mainland by a narrow piece of land) is located on the northern side of the Dingle Peninsula. It is an area of significant natural beauty, a well-know tourism attraction with the beautiful sandy Brandon Bay beach but also home to a vibrant community.