Nature called upon to provide helping hand as marram grass project proposed for Rosslare Strand

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

With works to protect Rosslare Strand from coastal erosion and flooding not expected to commence until mid-2027 there are hopes that, in the meantime, nature can provide some assistance. Speaking at the January meeting of the Rosslare Municipal District (RMD), Councillor Lisa McDonald asked whether funding was available to plant marram grass in Rosslare Strand’s most vulnerable areas.

Marram grass improves the resilience of sand dune systems and encourages the establishment of other plants in the dune habitat which attracts various insects and animals. There have already been a number of successful marram grass planting projects carried out at coastal locations across Co Wexford.

As a regular visitor to Rosslare Strand, Cllr McDonald said sections of its coastline had eroded to the point where barbed wire from a fence was now jutting out in the sand and creating a serious hazard for those visiting the beach.

“Can we look into planting marram grass there while we wait for the largescale defence scheme?” she asked. “Could we assist communities to grow it?”

In response, environmental engineer Rory O’Mahony said he would contact the council’s biodiversity officer to request funding for a marram grant project in Rosslare.

Mention of community projects caused Cllr Jim Codd to once more request advice on how to protect The Burrow at Kilmore Quay, an area he has repeatedly raised concerns about.

“I’m all for marram grass but it needs to be in the ground and growing,” he said. “Those holes in the dunes in The Burrow would be blocked by farmers if we let them do it, they’re willing to put in bales which we could cover in sand and let the marram grass grow on top.

"We can discuss various ways to address this but we could be having these discussions standing in water in the next coupe of years unless something happens quickly. At the moment we’re holding back people who are willing to do this work. What can I tell them to do? If the sea comes in we can wave goodbye to entire areas of our county.”

However, according to Mr O’Mahony, it isn’t that simple.

“The problem with The Burrow is it’s a special area of conservation so we can’t just go in and do work there without consent from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS),” he said. “The local community development group in Kilmore has funding and one of its objectives is to try and get soft measures done there to try and retain the dunes.”

With multi-million coastal protection schemes already in operation in Co Wexford, Cllr Lisa McDonald said some impetus was required to address these issues before they exacerbated.

“The time to put these measures in is when the problems start, otherwise we end up with a situation like Seaview (the site of one of those multi-million schemes). We need a policy in place to deal with it as it happens and before it gets out of hand.”