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Displaying items by tag: King's Island

A flood relief scheme for King’s Island along the Shannon in Limerick came a step closer this week with approval of tenders for a construction project.

The Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) Patrick O’Donovan confirmed on Wednesday (Feb 7) that the OPW has approved issuing of tenders by Limerick city and county council.

Mayor of the city and county of Limerick Gerald Mitchell welcomed the development, which is expected to protect some 528 homes and businesses when completed by the end of 2026.

“It is ten years ago this month since King’s Island was devastated by significant flooding and the images of residents being taken from their homes in boats will live long in the memory,” Mitchell said.

“ Today we are taking a significant step towards delivering vital works to protect homes and businesses in the area,” he said.

“I know that a great deal of work has gone into developing this scheme in an important area of Limerick city with both environmental and archaeological sensitivities,”’O’Donovan said.

“ I also understand that in addition to the much-needed flood relief scheme there will also be important amenities provided for the local community through public realm [funding], and significant conservation works undertaken to those areas of the scheme that interface with the historic fabric of this particularly important area,” he said.

The design began in 2015 with the appointment of Arup and JBA consultants to develop a permanent flood relief scheme for King’s Island.

The preferred option for the scheme, which was subject to public consultation, received planning approval in May 2021.

Published in Shannon Estuary

Coastal Notes Coastal Notes covers a broad spectrum of stories, events and developments in which some can be quirky and local in nature, while other stories are of national importance and are on-going, but whatever they are about, they need to be told.

Stories can be diverse and they can be influential, albeit some are more subtle than others in nature, while other events can be immediately felt. No more so felt, is firstly to those living along the coastal rim and rural isolated communities. Here the impact poses is increased to those directly linked with the sea, where daily lives are made from earning an income ashore and within coastal waters.

The topics in Coastal Notes can also be about the rare finding of sea-life creatures, a historic shipwreck lost to the passage of time and which has yet many a secret to tell. A trawler's net caught hauling more than fish but cannon balls dating to the Napoleonic era.

Also focusing the attention of Coastal Notes, are the maritime museums which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of historical exhibits for future generations.

Equally to keep an eye on the present day, with activities of existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector and those of the energy exploration industry.

In addition Coastal Notes has many more angles to cover, be it the weekend boat leisure user taking a sedate cruise off a long straight beach on the coast beach and making a friend with a feathered companion along the way.

In complete contrast is to those who harvest the sea, using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety poses an issue, before they set off to ply their trade at the foot of our highest sea cliffs along the rugged wild western seaboard.

It's all there, as Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied to the environment from which they came from and indeed which shape people's interaction with the surrounding environment that is the natural world and our relationship with the sea.