Public meeting for those affected by storms

Video footage taken from the pier side of Mulranny beach, shows how the beach approach road has been cut off by a thick layer of rocks washed in by the storm, covering a 200-metre stretch and cutting off access to the pier.

Public meeting for those affected by storms

Edwin McGreal

A public meeting for those affected by the recent storms will take place this Monday night.
Nevin’s of Tiernaur will host the meeting at 8.30pm for people from Belmullet to Louisburgh and everywhere in between who have been affected by the storm to discuss solutions.
The meeting has been called by Tiernaur-based Cllr Michael Holmes and is being organised by the Irish Farmers’ Association.
“Animals have been lost, sheep have been washed out to sea, bales of silage have been lost. Slatted houses have been filled with water, land and roads have been badly damaged. There’s a whole plethora of problems,” Cllr Holmes told The Mayo News.
All five Mayo TDs have also been invited to the meeting.
In Mulranny, the beach and golf course have been badly hit, and rocks now completely cover a large portion of the approach road to the beach. This also cuts off access to Mulranny pier.
The beach itself is also covered with rocks – see video above – and it is clear that a considerable amount of work will be required to restore the area to its previous condition.
Cllr Holmes said this was not the first time the beach and road has been hit, and he called for a permanent solution.
“It is like a bomb hit it. The beach has been hit quite a lot in the last 20 years. That road has been covered five or six times in the last 20 years; it is not a new problem and has been covered with lesser tides than last Thursday and Monday,” Cllr Holmes said today (Thursday).
“Maybe we’re lucky what happened to the beach happened at this time of year, because if it happened closer to summer it would have had a huge impact on the tourism season. We don’t want to reinstate the beach hoping this won’t happen again. We have to reinstate it fully believing this will happen again, because it will and possibly worse. With that in mind we need to put in proper rock armour to protect it. These are huge square blocks of rock or concrete which act to protect an area.
“Funding is an issue … We can just do the same old thing and be back with the same problem later this year, or we can do it properly and it will be done and dusted for a long time.”