The thousands of properties currently at risk of coastal erosion across the country \u201ccould quadruple” in the coming decades, with Cork, Kerry, and Waterford among the most vulnerable.<\/p>\n
A new report from the University of Galway, commissioned by the Climate Change Advisory Council, highlighted that the scale of threat from coastal erosion is \u201cimmense\u201d and the absence of a \u201cbinding framework for retreat has left the State in a cycle of ad hoc reactive engineering and unmanaged loss\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The report to the Government has called for protection of \u201ccurrent and future generations\u201d by creating a masterplan which shows how and why coastal communities will need to relocate.<\/p>\n
It 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 up to 4,446 by 2050.<\/p>\n
Associate professor at the University of Galway and report lead author Eugene Farrell said he believes these numbers \u201csubstantially underestimate the real risk\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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,\u201d he told the Irish Examiner.<\/p>\n
Additionally, Mr Farrell said researchers have a good idea that Cork, Kerry, Waterford, and Wexford are hotspots for coastal erosion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe question becomes what\u2019s actually built on the shoreline in the meantime, and what needs protection. I do not think, for example, Cork City will be told \u2018you\u2019re on your own.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The Government is very cognisant that it needs to protect these urban centres. 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?\u201d<\/p>\n
The professor added that implementing \u201cplanned relocation\u201d is not optional anymore, but \u201can essential responsibility\u201d of the current government and should be viewed as a \u201cvalid strategic shift\u201d instead of a last resort.<\/p>\n
![\"Some](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5112312_15_articleinline_LC_20pilmore_20cottages_2010.jpg\" "\\"Some")
Some of the wooden groynes that were once in position to prevent the movement of sand along the Cork shoreline. Coastal erosion has removed sections of the beach and dunes near Youghal leaving the access road open to high winter waves and flooding. Picture: Larry Cummins<\/p>\n
Some of the actions put forward by the report include creating legislation to address coastal change and planned relocation, as well as creating a framework for compensation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn some places in the UK, it happened recently on the east coast of England, they essentially gave 50% of the value of homes,\u201d Mr Farrell said.<\/p>\n
He added that there was \u201cprecedence for relocation\u201d, saying the Government previously supported the relocation of 24 houses under the 2017 Voluntary Homeowners Relocation Scheme.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a full compensation for these homeowners [relocation and legal costs] whose properties were identified by the OPW as being at high risk of being flooded again. And so now the question is, should that same approach be applied to homeowners on the coast?\u201d Mr Farrell said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The thousands of properties currently at risk of coastal erosion across the country \u201ccould quadruple” in the coming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503416,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[187201,191786,2885,79,246,61,60,82],"class_list":["post-503415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-kerry-news","tag-waterford-news","tag-climate-change","tag-cork-news","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}