This article is from page 16 of the 2014-01-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
COMMUNITY activists in Doonbeg have warned that the village and surrounding lands all the way to Cooraclare will be under water if a membrane of land holding back the sea breaks.
The land barrier at Doonbeg Bay was compromised in recent storms that did more than € 800,000 worth of damage to infrastructure of the area.
Tommy Commerford and Tommy Tubridy, both local publicans and local community activists, have now warned that if repair damage and reinforcement work is not carried out soon, the damage to the area will be more severe if there is more bad weather.
“Unless a reinforcement barrier put in there, if the sea breaks it, and it is breaking here already, you are going to have the whole area flooded right down,” said Mr Commerford pointing to land at the edge of the bay just metres from the village on the Dun- more Road.
During the storm on January 7, the land was flooded up to 150 metres from the village, reaching the 50 kilometres per hour sign at the bridge.
“The whole area down to Cooraclare will flood because it is a pure low land caucuses, shragh, land. It is a pure bog land if the membrane goes. “The membrane is only about five metres in parts of it and if it breaks it will sweep the bridge away going down and it will sweep into Shragh and down into the townlands of Cooraclare,” warned Mr Commerford. He said the county council must now look at how best to protect the land bank, as when it is compromised the financial cost and the cost to people’s lives will be significantly more. “Definitely the council need to reassess that whole area. It is a dangerous position,” he said. Two houses along the road were flooded during the storm, but reinforcement works carried out further up the bay saved more homes. The men point to armour rock just metres away that saved their homes and land, previously put under water. “That is what they wanted to do at Doonbeg Golf Course. If that was done at Doonbeg Golf Course there would have been no damage done there,” said Mr Tubridy. There are also concerns for an area across the bay at Rhynnagonnaught. The road leading to the houses in the area was compromised in the storm, and if it is not underpinned it will be completely washed away in the next storm, marooning the residents on an island similar to what happened at Kilcredaun on the Loop Head peninsula.
Clare County Council has requested € 547,500 from central government for the work.
Whitestrand and Doonmore, also experienced € 237,500 worth of damage.
Not only was the sea wall compromised, but holes were also blown open on walls across the road from the sea wall so fierce were the waves and the wind.
Local farmers and neighbours began removing stones from the road at Whitestrand last Wednesday.
As much as 6 to 7 metres of farm land and fencing was also washed into the sea as a result of the storm.
This area will also need to be reinforced with rock armour of galleons the men maintain.