Coastal repairs will be completed by Whit weekend

‘WE NEED A TIMELINE’ ?Cllr Michéal McNamara

Council say coastal work will be completed by Whit weekend


Anton McNulty

The majority of restoration work to the infrastructure of beaches along the coast of Mayo which were damaged by winter storms will be completed by June 1, officials from Mayo County Council have confirmed.
Storms last winter caused considerable damage to many beaches and coastal amenities in the county and there is growing concern in coastal communities that restoration work will not be completed before the start of the busy summer season.
However, a senior official with Mayo County Council told The Mayo News that work on some of the beaches in both the Westport and Belmullet Electoral Areas has already begun. Director of Services, Martin Keating said that with the exception of Mulranny and Bertra beaches, the work will be completed before the start of the bathing season on June 1.
“The final matters have been dealt with in that the SAC assessment have been completed with just one or two exceptions. Work on beaches has started in both electoral areas and will be completed in all by the end of the month. The work relates to infrastructure of the beaches, the roads, carparks and access. Obviously there will be some changes from what was there before and we can’t say it will all be put back as it was before. It is not possible to remove material off the beaches and we’ll allow the natural process take its own course,” he said.
Mr Keating said the cleanup in Mulranny and Bertra beaches will take longer but hoped Mulranny beach will be completed a week or ten days after the start of the bathing season. He added that work on marine structures and the building up of coastal defences will start later in the summer but should be completed by winter.
A detailed report on work to be completed in the Belmullet Electoral Area is due to be presented to councillors at tomorrow’s monthly meeting of the Electoral Area.
Achill Fianna FΡil councillor MicheΡl McNamara said he hoped the work will be completed by June but he told The Mayo News he was skeptical that it can be all completed.
“The Council say it will be done and I hope it will be done but there is a huge volume of work to be done. From my experience if it is not started and well in advance before the local elections on May 23, I cannot see it being ready for the Whit weekend.
“We need a timeline when this will be done because there are jobs at stake and it is important for the tourism trade. If someone comes on a holiday and the work is not done they won’t go for a second time. Fine Gael have control of this Council and funding coming into the county and its disappointing this work has not been completed yet,” he said.