Cork is one of counties most vulnerable to coastal erosion

Cork is one of the counties most vulnerable to coastal erosion, with a new report showing thousands of properties are currently at risk.

A report from the University of Galway, commissioned by the Climate Change Advisory Council, warned the scale of the threat from coastal erosion is “immense” and Cork, Kerry, and Waterford are among the most at-risk counties.

It said the absence of a “binding framework for retreat” has left the State in a cycle of ad hoc, reactive engineering and unmanaged loss.

The Government has been urged to act for current and future generations by developing a masterplan setting out how and why some coastal communities may need to relocate.

The report said 2,279 properties and 570km of roads were at risk of falling into the sea, according to figures from eight local authorities. This is expected to jump to 4,446 by 2050.

Its lead author, University of Galway associate professor Eugene Farrell, said he believes these numbers “substantially underestimate the real risk”.

“I think when you add in the other 11 counties and actually also add things like sea level rise and changes in coastal erosion from storms, I think the number could quadruple,” 

he said.

Prof Farrell said researchers have a good idea that Cork, Kerry, Waterford, and Wexford are hotspots for coastal erosion.

“In the hotspots, erosion is a natural process. It has happened, it will happen, it happened for a millennium, it is going to happen for the next thousands of years,” he said.

“The question becomes what’s actually built on the shoreline in the meantime, and what needs protection.

“I do not think, for example, Cork city will be told: ‘You’re on your own.’ The question then becomes: is it fair to allow rural areas to be washed away because the cost-benefits of building cost-hardened structures do not fit their criteria?”