Bray to Greystones Cliff Walk taskforce will hold next meeting in mid November
The Wicklow PeopleThe Bray to Greystones Cliff Walk taskforce will hold their next meeting in mid-November.
District councillors in Greystones were informed of the update by their new district manager, Helena Dennehy, during their October monthly meeting.
At the taskforce meeting, the bill for the works needed on site will be presented by the chief executive of Wicklow County Council, Emer O’Gorman, to Tánaiste Simon Harris, who established the taskforce shortly before last year’s general election, to find solutions on how the amenity could be reopened safely.
As a result, Wicklow County Council commissioned an RPS geotechnical engineering report.
The report, published in September 2025 highlighted short term measures that could be taken that would allow for an early reopening of the walk, which included spraying concrete on the rock face and cladding it with wire, and, on the Greystones side, moving the path up to five metres inland at the point of the slippage.
The walk has been closed since early 2021 when the route was deemed unsafe following a series of landslides and rockfalls in the area. The route was a popular attraction for both tourists and residents and at its peak attracted over 300,000 visitors each year.
A report by economist Jim Power published in 2025 estimated the national economic loss from the closure at more than €50,000 per day - over €70 million to date. In June 2024, tenders were returned for the €500,000 rockfall stabilisation works on the Bray side of the walk to address serious erosion and slope instability. The project remains stuck in limbo as the tender prices came in over budget and additional central funding was required.
A recent public meeting hosted by the Friends of the Cliff Walk group at Greystones Sailing Club highlighted how the walk's closure remains a cause of significant anger and frustration for many people in the North Wicklow area.
Cllr Orla Finn told the meeting that “as councillors we have been told there are serious reasons why the cliff walk has been closed”.
Reading from the consultant’s report, she said the main criterion that the cliff walk does not meet is “safety”.
Cllr Louise Fenelon Gaskin said it was not fair to say that local councillors were not raising the recent consultant’s report with council management.
Reading from a transcript of a recent council meeting, she said council chief executive Emer O’Gorman was on the record as saying she had met the Tánaiste and local TD Simon Harris on the issue.
Ms Fenelon Gaskin cited Ms O’Gorman saying Mr Harris “was very supportive when I did meet him, before I told him how many zeros I needed” – a reference to the cost of engineering works.
Cllr Mark Barry has also expressed his frustration at the continued closure.
“The plans are complete, the tenders are in, and the problem is well understood. What's missing is central government action and funding to finally deliver.”
Speaking during the district meeting, Cllr Tom Fortune stressed the importance of having a timeline in place for the works and letting the public know who is taking responsibility for the project.
In response Ms Dennehy said the taskforce will hold their next meeting by the middle of November.