‘If they decide not to defend Strandhill, they need to move it’ – tourism and businesses at risk in Sligo
A Strandhill businessman has told how almost two metres is being stolen from the north end of the Co Sligo beach every year.
But the impact of climate change doesn’t just mean less coastline in the popular surfing and tourist destination where, just five metres from the sea, Neil Byrne runs Mammy Johnston’s ice-cream parlour.
An accomplished surfer, Mr Byrne has been calling on authorities to tackle the coastal erosion risking hundreds of livelihoods in multiple tourist hotspots for years.
“The powers that be have a choice: to defend or not to defend,” he said.
“If they decide not to defend, then what they need to do is shut down Strandhill, residents and the whole lot. Buy them out and move them out of the seafront area.
“But that’s not going to solve the problem. That will buy them maybe 50 years. Next thing, it’s going to be breaking into Culleenamore and it’s going to be causing problems further up Ballysadare Bay.
“We are losing almost two metres to the sea every year at the north end of the beach.
“It is already starting to endanger major infrastructure, including the sewerage treatment plant and the caravan park, which is a major part of the tourism industry in Strandhill where up to 500 people are employed during the busy summer season.”
Mr Byrne said the special area of conservation (SAC) at Strandhill has also been “decimated”, with about “50 acres of dune system washed out to the ocean” over his lifetime.
But all is not lost. Mr Bryne said a coastal erosion study published by Sligo County Council in 2023 recommended the installation of rock armour to protect the bay.
The report forecast the loss of 94 metres of coastline between Strandhill and the wastewater treatment plant in the next 100 years, including from Cummeen Strand/Drumcliff Bay SAC and the camping and caravan park.
Mr Byrne said it took two years for the council to release the report to the public.
He added: “We have government approval for rock armour from the cannon to the storm water outlet, which is a distance of 450 metres, but the council are very slow to push this forward.
“€750,000 is available nationally, and government approval is there. Sligo County Council only has to contribute 10pc of the total.
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“There was rock armour put into the south end of the beach to protect the golf course. That cost in the region of €400,000 and the golf club paid for it themselves.
“If that job wasn’t done, the seventh fairway would have been gone completely.”
A spokesperson for Sligo County Council said: “Consultants are preparing an environmental screening report for [a] limited amount of rock armour above the high-water mark along the length of the car park.”
The spokesperson said this work would be carried out as soon as possible, but that full rock armour along the car park and promenade will take longer as it requires a Maritime Area Consent.
“When the result of the environmental screening is completed, a workshop will be held with councillors, OPW and consultants to discuss,” they added.