{"id":1174844,"date":"2026-08-28T21:29:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T21:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1174844\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T21:29:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T21:29:31","slug":"disaster-averted-as-18th-century-northern-ireland-sea-defence-structure-repaired-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1174844\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Disaster\u2019 averted as 18th century Northern Ireland sea defence structure repaired \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A once-crumbling 18th century sea defence structure has been repaired on the north coast, easing fears of a catastrophic collapse.<\/p>\n

The Barmouth, which was built to allow vessels to access the River Bann<\/a> from the sea at Castlerock<\/a>, has seen the speedy completion of a \u00a31.2m project to strengthen its stone and concrete support structures.<\/p>\n

Known as \u2018moles\u2019, the structures were identified as degrading in recent years, with repairs last having been carried out in 1929.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Barmouth as seen from above PICTURE: COLERAINE HARBOUR COMMISSION <\/p>\n

Work was rubber-stamped last year by the Department for Infrastructure, after a stark warning<\/a> from the Coleraine Harbour Commission that if the moles collapsed, the ensuing floods could wipe out square miles of land, including Portstewart<\/a> and Castlerock Golf Club courses, as the river\u2019s mouth would revert to a delta.<\/p>\n

\"Mo<\/a>\"Sinn<\/a><\/p>\n

Both Portstewart Strand and Castlerock beaches would have been at risk in a collapse if the moles\u2019 ability to hold back a daily eight-and-a-half million cubic meters of water was compromised.<\/p>\n

This doomsday scenario was presented last year to Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, as the Harbour Commission described an \u201cecological and economic disaster\u201d if repairs were not carried out.<\/p>\n

Read more: <\/b>Portstewart Strand tops annual UK \u2018best beach\u2019 list<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

This week the infrastructure minister Liz Kimmins visited the Barmouth to view the completed works, and said that without her department\u2019s intervention, \u201cthis could have resulted in impeded vessel access, increased erosion at key tourist beaches and elevated flood risks along the lower Bann\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"HarbourHarbour master Lisa McLaughlin, with infrastructure minister Liz Kimmins and Robert Skelly, chair of Coleraine Harbour Commissioners at the newly repaired Barmouth <\/p>\n

\u201cI am pleased that the works have been completed, which will help protect the surrounding environment and reduce the risk of tidal flooding for local communities, work which is also important for the development of the local economy and the future of Coleraine Harbour,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI commend the Commissioners for taking forward this vital project as a matter of urgency and ensuring timely completion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert Skelly, who chairs the Harbour Commission and who outlined the potential for disaster at last year\u2019s council presentation, welcomed the completion of the \u201csignificant and technically challenging marine engineering project\u201d, saying its \u201csuccessful completion on time and within budget is a credit to everyone involved\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A once-crumbling 18th century sea defence structure has been repaired on the north coast, easing fears of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1174845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5011],"tags":[318407,76611,1144,314128,15003,16,15],"class_list":["post-1174844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-northern-ireland","tag-castlerock","tag-coleraine","tag-northern-ireland","tag-portstewart","tag-sea","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117175267848745919","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1174844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1174844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1174844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1174845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1174844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1174844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1174844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}