threatening legal action

BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY 1 MAY 2023

---

Sandymount Strand is a large strand on the east coast of Ireland, adjacent to the village and suburb of Sandymount in Dublin. It is part of South Bull – a major component of the south side of Dublin Bay, and part of the Dublin Bay Biosphere Reserve. South Bull is a mirror to the North Bull sandbank, which grew into North Bull Island.

Sandymount Strand is a popular place for locals to take a walk. People, and in the past – there is no longer public vehicular access – cars, have been occasionally trapped by the incoming tide. A large inlet of water that remains even at low tide is known locally as “Cockle Lake”.

Residents of Sandymount are calling for an independently led taskforce to manage a number of major projects planned along the Strand Road over the coming years. They are currently facing 12 months of disruption due to Irish Water replacing a century-old 3km water pipeline in the area.

Late last year Sandymount residents were threatening legal action against Dublin City Council for allowing “dangerous and damaging” noise levels on the coastal Strand Road.

The road is the loudest in the city according to the council’s own monitoring equipment and has breached levels which “threaten health” under the council’s noise policy.

The road that runs along Dublin Bay has been the focus of a long-running dispute over the council’s plans to install a cycle path, which would require a one-way traffic system on the road.

In March of 2023 Eirgrid announced that options for the installation of 50km of underground electricity cables across Dublin were likely to cause traffic disruption for up to five years.

The Powering Up Dublin project will require a “considerable amount of roadworks”, EirGrid has said, and will have the widest impact on the south of the city with disruption in Sandymount almost inevitable.