A recent Atlantic storm has washed away a large crane worth thousands of euros which had been hired for construction work on Skellig Michael.
As The Sunday Independent reports, the temporary crane, shipped out several months ago to the UNESCO world heritage site, has vanished from the main pier on Skellig Michael.
Local fishermen in south Kerry were the first to spot the disappearance after several days of gales.
Although the crane was bolted onto the pier and into rock, it is believed the machinery was engulfed by waves, broken up and swept away.
The crane, owned by a Kerry-based contractor, was being used to lift vehicles, steel and other materials onto the rock, below the internationally known sixth-century monastic site.
The Office of Public Works (OPW) had commissioned the construction of several heavy-duty shelters to protect visitors at the western end of the island, after a rockfall in early June of this year led to a temporary closure of the national monument.
The UNESCO world heritage site is an internationally important habitat for seabirds.
It is home to some of the world’s largest breeding populations of Manx shearwater and storm petrel. Puffins, fulmars, kittiwakes and guillemots also nest on high cliffs and ledges.
Birdwatch Ireland wrote to the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) in mid-June, raising its concerns about the potential impacts of the rock “sweeping” on sensitive nesting sites and asking for details of “safeguards” which had been put in place to protect breeding birds.
The OPW has confirmed that the crane is “no longer in position”, which is “most likely due to the impact of the sea swell on the structure”.
Read more in The Sunday Independent here