Portmarnock boardwalk proposal opposed by locals

A proposal to build a boardwalk on Portmarnock dunes in north Co Dublin is due to come before Fingal county councillors this afternoon amid mounting local controversy.

The council has proposed the 2.5km (1.6 miles) boardwalk - which is between 1.5m (4.9 ft) and 1.8m high and two metres wide - as a dune-protection measure also to be used as a public amenity. The boardwalk is planned for an area between the Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links and the sea.

However, Portmarnock Community Association's Beach Committee, a group which has been minding the dunes for more than 15 years, is opposing the plan.

The committee and Portmarnock Community School's transition year students have planted marram grasses on the dunes to prevent erosion.

Committee chairwoman and teacher Angela Bury claimed the local effort had been successful in halting erosion. She attributed this to fencing along the dunes undertaken some 14 years ago.

However, she maintained the work would be undermined by the building of the boardwalk and insisted it could result in the loss of the dunes altogether.

"If you build a fence along the dunes, you would slice into the ground, severing roots and exposing the dunes to erosion and degradation. But imagine this is not a slice, it is two metres wide, the digging of which would cleave into the roots which are keeping the dunes together."

The item is listed for discussion among members of Fingal County Council when they meet at 2pm today.

However, the monthly meeting is set to be truncated by the additional need to hold the annual budget meeting, which is set to get under way at 4pm.

A spokeswoman for the council said she was uncertain as to whether the item would be reached.