Past Coastal Erosion Database

Report of the Inter Departmental Group on National Coastal Change Management Strategy

The Report of the Inter Departmental Group on National Coastal Change Management Strategy, published in 2023, was prepared jointly by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (D/HLGH) and the Office of Public Works (OPW). It sets out the response of the Government to the challenges faced associated with the sustainable management of coastal change in Ireland. The D/HLGH has the lead coordination role and chairs an Interdepartmental Steering Group, promoting a whole of Government response to coastal change. The OPW is the lead coordinating body for the technical assessment of coastal change hazard and risks.

Past Coastal Erosion Database

The Past Coastal Erosion Database has been established as a platform to receive and log reports of coastal erosion events that have occurred in Ireland to support the technical assessment of coastal change hazards and risks.

A Past Coastal Erosion Event is defined as the occurrence of recorded coastal erosion at a given location on a given date or on a recurring basis. Past Coastal Erosion Events are based on events that have actually occurred, or are occurring, rather than any perceived or predicted coastal erosion that may occur in the future. Past Coastal Erosion Events may have occurred in the recent past, but events that occurred many years ago can also be submitted where the location and date of occurrence is known and the event can be verified.

This Past Coastal Erosion Database will allow for the creation of a national archive of coastal erosion events, providing the OPW with specific information relating to areas of observed coastal erosion around the country. The outputs will assist in identifying areas of potentially significant coastal erosion risk whilst also helping to inform coastal monitoring in Ireland. Coastal erosion events reported, once reviewed and approved by the OPW, will also be visible to other stakeholders and users.

Submitting a Past Coastal Erosion Report

A short tutorial explaining how to submit a report of past coastal erosion is available in this 2-minute video: How to report past coastal erosion.

If you wish to submit a Past Coastal Erosion Report to the Past Coastal Erosion Database, you will first need to register as a user and provide your name, email address, and organisation if applicable. When you upload images, you will be asked to confirm that you hold the copyright and that you agree to these images being published, along with your anonymised report, on the Past Coastal Erosion Database on www.floodinfo.ie.

This information (name, email address, and organisation if applicable) will only be visible to the OPW and will be used to contact users to:

• Request clarification or further information on submitted Past Coastal Erosion Reports;
• Provide an update on the status of submitted Past Coastal Erosion Reports;
• Provide updates or other general information in relation to the Past Coastal Erosion Database;
• Advise on periods of account inactivity: accounts will be automatically closed following an eighteen month period of inactivity. Registered users will be contacted via email in advance of accounts being closed.

For further information on how the OPW processes personal data and your data subject rights, please see our Data Protection Privacy Statement.