Ireland’s Coastline: Stories from our sea frontierNew and emerging threats, from climate change to security in a more politically volatile world, put greater focus on Ireland’s island status and our coastline.Stretching to more than 7,500km, the coast of Ireland’s mainland and offshore islands covers roughly the same distance across Africa at its widest point, or the path of a flight from New York to Moscow.That distance creates challenges when it comes to policing a long coastline such as Co Cork’s against drug traffickers. Elsewhere, rising sea waters and changing weather patterns pose risks to existing homes and businesses situated next to the sea, including along the Co Wexford coast.The coastline is also a vital resource for the tourism and leisure industries, bringing value to the local economies of the 19 counties that touch the Atlantic Ocean, the Irish Sea and the Celtic Sea. In this series, The Irish Times looks at lives and lifestyles around the country’s coastline along with the challenges facing some on the island’s sea frontier.Every day untreated sewage from the seaside village of Kilkee in west Clare is pumped into the Atlantic Ocean.If the tides aren’t right, this raw sewage can easily make its way around the Famine Relief Sea Wall and on to the otherwise pristine beach.If the wind isn’t right, untreated effluent from the sewage pipe is captured in the updraft before it reaches the ocean and is blown back on to unsuspecting tourists on the local cliff walk.Yet, for the past two years the Kilkee community has been fighting to prevent Uisce Éireann from building a sewage treatment plant for the town.The community has managed to raise almost €100,000 to launch a judicial review of An Coimisiún Pleanála’s decision to grant planning permission for a treatment plant, including €20,000 from the family of the late actor Richard Harris.To the outside observer, it doesn’t make sense.But perhaps the best place to view this situation is from the trail head of Kilkee’s famed cliff walk.As Intrinsic Bay opens before you, the view to your right is dominated by Duggerna Reef with its famous Pollock Holes.To your left is the townland of Fooagh, where a decades-old pipe releases raw sewage over the cliff and into the ocean.Directly behind you, just a few hundred metres south of the trail head, is the proposed site for the new waste water treatment plant.The people of Kilkee want a treatment plant, they just don’t want this treatment plant in this location.“Kilkee doesn’t have an industry, tourism is our industry. The cliff walk and the Pollock Holes, which are a special area of conservation, they are the jewels in the crown. Both of them are going to be damaged irreparably by this [treatment plant]. This looped walk is the lifeblood of the town,” says local resident Ellie Byrne.Ellie Byrne at the Kilkee cliff walk on a misty day this week. Photograph: Eamon Ward “Nobody in Kilkee is suggesting that we don’t need a wastewater treatment plant, we have been calling for one for decades. But the one that Uisce Éireann have had approved is in the wrong place.“We are going to be looking at these huge, 40ft high, unsightly tanks of raw sewage, open to the elements, being agitated [stirred] constantly with all the associated smells.“It beggars belief that anyone could stand on this cliff walk and decide this is the right location for it.”The campaign for a sewage plant for Kilkee has been active since the 1980s, so locals were overjoyed in 2017 when the government approved funding for Uisce Éireann to develop sewage treatment plants in Kilkee and neighbouring Kilrush.That joy quickly began to subside, however, once details of the proposed facility became known.“When we heard that the sewage treatment plant was coming, we all assumed this would be an ultimate, long-term solution. That it would be the end to beach closures, the end to the loss of the blue flag,” says local man Joseph McCloskey.“The beach is routinely closed each summer. Notices go up and barricades are put up in the sea wall to prevent you entering the beach.“When the details of the proposal came to light, people were horrified at what was being suggested.“The more we have become aware of what is being proposed, the more we are worried about it. We are going to be as exposed to contaminants from sewage going into the bathing water as ever we were.”The key issue for many local people is the type of treatment plant being developed. The existing proposal is for a primary treatment plant, which will pump both sewage and rain water into two large storage tanks located in a field, close to the start of the cliff walk.These open-air tanks will be agitated before the solid materials are captured and transported by trucks to be dealt with at another Uisce Éireann facility.The remaining liquid will then be pumped into the ocean using the same pipe as has been used for generations.“Primary treatment isn’t treatment at all. It’s two big slurry tanks. There is no treatment. They take the solids off the top. A 20-tonne truck will come up here, take the solids, and the rest of the effluent will go out in the same place that it always goes out,” says Tom Byrne, a former member of Kilkee town council.Tom Byrne: 'Primary treatment isn’t treatment at all.' Photograph: Eamon Ward Locals have also raised concerns that the nearby Victoria stream, which flows into the ocean at Kilkee beach, will be used as an emergency overflow under the Uisce Éireann plan.When the current pumping system malfunctions, raw sewage is directed into this stream, and locals are concerned the new facility will make this practice official.“The overflow into the Victoria stream was illegal, but it was also unofficial. But now Uisce Éireann have put it into their proposal that this practice would become official. So if there is heavy rainfall or a power outage, that’s what will happen,” says Byrne.In October 2024, Clare County Council rejected Uisce Éireann plans to develop this sewage treatment plant.In June 2025, An Coimisiún Pleanála overturned this decision, despite its own inspector recommending the facility be refused.Just last month, a High Court bid by local people to overturn this ruling failed, with locals now seeking leave to appeal.Many Kilkee residents feel the views of local people have not been taken into account and that not enough consultation was undertaken by Uisce Éireann.“There is frustration about the lack of engagement from Irish Water [Uisce Éireann]. We have tried to engage with them about alternative solutions, but they don’t seem to be willing to listen,” says Kilkee resident Ivan Graydon.“Maybe if someone from Irish Water came down here and actually physically looked at the spot where they want to build this, they might have a different decision. There is someone making this decision who is not familiar with the area.“An Bord Pleanála’s [now An Coimisiún Pleanála] inspector recommended that the plant be rejected, Clare County Council rejected it. Everyone who has actually stood here and looked at the site says it shouldn’t go ahead.”A spokesperson for Uisce Éireann declined to comment on the specifics of the planned treatment facility, but did say they looked forward to engaging with local residents in the months ahead.“Uisce Éireann recognise and respect that there are differing views in relation to this development and look forward to engaging openly, factually and constructively with local residents and key stakeholders in the coming months. This is a vital project to end the discharge of raw sewage at one of Ireland’s scenic locations,” said the spokesperson.A decision is expected on a possible appeal of the judicial review in September. Whatever the outcome, it is unlikely to be the end of the local campaign.“We are feeling our way in the dark in terms of what is next for us legally,” says Byrne.“The judge will decide in September whether we can appeal or not, but if he decides there is no grounds for appeal, we have been exploring what we can do through Europe.“Nobody is going to be happy if this goes ahead. We will lie down in front of bulldozers if we have to.”[ ‘We are still the gateway to Europe’: Policing the west Cork coast for drug smugglingOpens in new window ]