Irish Examiner View: Turning the tide of coastal erosion

Join us for the [i]Irish Examiner's[/i] ‘Ocean Week 2020’.

Ocean Week 2020

There is a contradiction at the heart of our tourism policy. On the one hand, the Government is urging us to discover the beauty and heritage of our spectacular coastline but, on the other, it is reluctant to invest in the infrastructure that is so desperately needed to save it.

Some 20% of the coast is at risk of erosion — from human activity and extreme weather — while 6% is in immediate danger, according to Dr Eugene Farrell at the Department of Geography at NUI Galway. He warns that the coast faces a bleak future without investment, policy, and legislation. 

The full enactment of the Marine Planning and Development Management Bill would be a start.

Without investment, the social fabric of many already-strained rural coastal communities is in danger of breaking down, he warned. There is good news too, as many of those communities are fighting back, as highlighted in today's special report.

It's part of the Irish Examiner's ‘Ocean Week 2020’, which explores the potential, importance, and, in many ways, untapped resources of our oceans and covers everything from favourite beach walks through childhood summers on breeze-blown sands, to food and fruits of the sea.

Join us for a celebration of all things ocean.