‘Time is running out and people are living in fear’ – Portrane residents says homes won’t survive another storm
Residents in north Dublin say they are at risk of losing their homes along the coast of Portrane in the wake of Storm Bram.
Around 150 residents gathered last week to protest after they say the storm “swallowed up” close to 10 metres of the coast at Brook Beach.
They gathered around a walkway leading to the sea, where temporary concrete units, sandbags and a protective wall had been overcome by the storm.
The north Dublin area has seen the worsening effects of soil erosion for close to two decades, with each storm and high tide wearing down temporary protections and bringing the water closer to the 600 homes lining the coast.
Doireann Richie, who bought her home in Portrane more than 30 years ago, said she had lost close to “two football fields” worth of land.
“I had close to two acres of land since 2010 that’s gone into the sea,” she said. “We had dunes about 20-feet high that kept the water from getting to us. When Storm Ophelia came in 2017, all the dunes went.
“On the right-hand side of us, there was a house that’s gone into the sea already. Another house in front of it is about to go next.
Local resident Doreen Richie at Portrane strand for the protest. Photo: Tony Gavin
“There is always a terror when a storm comes around. You’re awake all night long, listening to the waves coming. My house itself is not in danger directly, but there are people in Burrow Beach who live right on the sea. It’s very, very frightening for them.”
David Shevlin’s home sticks out from the coast and overlooks the sea. Each year, he builds a fence to protect his home from damage, but he lives in constant fear of each new storm and high tide.
“I lost around 10 metres of the land already with just this storm this week,” said Mr Shevlin. “I’ve been building my defences for the last five years and maintained the boundary, but every year we get a major storm and it’s destroyed.”
Mr Shevlin lost 20 metres of land between 2018 and 2020. His fence system made of sandbags gets pulled away by the sea during storm surges, when the area experiences an abnormal rise of water.
“We’re always worried about losing the house,” he said. “We’re very exposed to the erosion. What we had this other day was a storm surge, which we get every year. You can’ t protect against something like that.
“I’m totally worried. I lost my storage space a few years ago and had to get it rerouted because we lost it to the sea. I’ve lost a significant part of my garden too.
People are living in fear all the time
“It’s an immense fear because there is no protection for us. We could easily lose our home and we feel helpless about it.
“People are living in fear all the time. Every storm brings another challenge. We’re always on edge about the property.”
Fingal County Council (FCC) is due to hold a meeting of the Fingal Coastal Liaison Group, which includes the local community in Portrane, to discuss the aftermath of Storm Bram.
A spokesperson said FCC was “reviewing what short-term actions can be undertaken in support of the community”.
The council is currently waiting on planning permission from An Coimisiún Pleanála for a more permanent protection from erosion in the area.
Earlier this year, the council’s application for a Coastal Flood and Erosion Risk Management protection scheme at Burrow Peninsula was approved by the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority.
The council spokesperson added: “It is not possible to provide an estimated timeframe for the works as they are dependent on statutory planning approval.”
Some of the SeaBees put in place to help reduce the force of waves along Portrane Beach. Photo by Steve Humphreys
Raymond Brett, a resident and campaigner for coastal protection in Portrane, called for emergency funding from the State to protect the area.
“Our dunes are eroding faster than it’s been for years,” Mr Brett said. “We have been campaigning for the last 18 years to get someone to take responsibility. What we need is a permanent solution. The recent storm has destructed a serious amount of the beach now and we’re very close to losing a house, maybe even more.
“We have partially lost about five to 10 metres of sections of the beach. There is more than one house lost over the years. And, as it currently stands, there’s one particular row of houses that are vulnerable after this week.”
The installation of concrete units known as SeaBees has helped slow the rate of erosion on Burrow Beach.
Fine Gael councillor for Rush-Lusk Eoghan Dockrell said: “It’s essential that our Government engage with the community of Portrane and put in place additional interim coastal protection measures while we wait for the planning application to run its course. The SeaBee concrete units currently in place are somewhat effective, but they’re not enough.
“Time is running out for many Portrane residents. Many people are looking into a very uncertain Christmas and watching weather forecasts for when the next storm is due.”
If a significant amount of water comes in, our business is gone
Michael and Bríd Moynihan are the second generation running The Brook, a pub in the community since 1896.
“There is a laneway to the pub that is the only public access to [Brook Beach] itself,” said Ms Moynihan. “With this storm, we saw very high tides – they were topping over – and, for the first time, we’ve now seen water come in through that laneway.
“If a significant amount of water comes in, our business is gone. It will continue into the car park and straight across the road to the houses directly opposite, straight down the Burrow and further.
“In the 1950s, they built a revetment; a protective wall behind the pub. The experts of the day left a gap in the SeaBees because we had the revetment.
“So we have nothing behind us. There’s an absolute gap where we are situated. In the last couple of days, we’ve seen a huge amount of damage at the back of the pub. It’s an absolute worry for us; it’s stopping us from developing the place.
Local residents on Portrane strand, where they gathered to highlight the problems caused by costal erosion. Photo: Tony Gavin
“We don’t want to be putting a huge amount of money and taking out a massive loan when we don’t know what could happen. We can’t make future investments into our business because our situation is so unpredictable.”
A spokesperson from the Office of Public Works (OPW) said Portrane had received funding of €1.65m for interim emergency measures and mitigation work, including the SeaBee units.
Brook Beach falls under a part of North Dublin Bay that is a Special Area of Conservation. It falls under the remit of the National Parks and Wildlife Service within the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the OPW spokesperson said.
“An interdepartmental steering group on coastal change, chaired by the department, is implementing the recommendations of a report on national coastal change management strategy, which was approved by government in October 2023,” they added.