By Lisa Ramsden
ANNALONG’S “first line of defence” from the sea is “ready to break”, according to a local councillor.
Speaking after Storm Ashley pummelled the County Down coastline at the weekend, as it wreaked havoc across the UK and Ireland, Cllr Glyn Hanna appealed for more efforts to be focused on the site, and in particular its pier.
Mr Hanna now believes the end section of the pier “is ready to break off and fall into the Irish Sea”.
On Monday, having visited the harbour to check on its condition, the local councillor said he is “now extremely concerned” that part of the pier is about to collapse.
He fears the site, which has protected status, will not “stand up to a winter and spring of storms in its present condition” and has warned that if the pier collapses “the whole harbour is at risk of serious damage”.
Acknowledging that “strong winds and high tides can cause serious damage to any coastline or harbour,” Mr Hanna said that when it comes to Annalong, “the majority of storms to strike the harbour come from the east or south-east, especially in the winter and springtime, which can be fierce”.
He continued: “I raised the problem of this pier with council officers weeks ago and now the pier is showing serious damage.
“This pier is the first line of defence from storms, from the east or south-east, and the pier takes a lot of pounding from the sea, which plays a massive role in keeping the harbour safe.”
Another section of the harbour underwent repairs several years ago.
However, he believes the repair bill for work which is needed to the pier would not be as hefty.
“This is a concrete pier, unlike the north pier the council repaired a few years ago, which is built from Mourne granite stone.
“This pier, which is constructed of concrete, should not be as expensive to repair.
“The repairs have now become extremely urgent.
“A crack has now appeared along the centre of the pier, which was not there before, this also is alarming for the structure of the pier’s safety.”
Mr Hanna added that the district council had engineers carry out an inspection along the pier last week.
Vowing to continue to “press for works to repair the pier as soon as possible,” he concluded: “I am far from certain if this pier will stand up to a winter and spring of storms in its present condition, and if this pier collapses the whole harbour is at risk of serious damage.
“Annalong Harbour is one of few harbours like it in Ireland, it is beautiful and has protected status, we must make sure the harbour is kept safe for future generations.”
Elsewhere in the district, and as a precautionary measure during the weekend’s storm, the district council closed its forest and country parks at Castlewellan, Kilbroney, Delamont and Slieve Gullion.
Coastguards from Kilkeel and Newcastle conducted safety patrols along local shorelines as the storm coincided with a very high tide.
During one of the patrols, it was outlined on social media how a car, with its driver and a seven-year-old child on board, were found to be sitting on the pier in Kilkeel with ‘waves crashing over’ it and a further second vehicle.
This was after team members had closed off access to the pier ‘in an effort to keep our community safe’ and urged the public to ‘please stay away from the water’s edge, avoid cliffs and keep off piers, jetties and harbour walls’.
Further along the coast, a wildlife casualty from the storm was a young grey seal pup that was washed ashore at Newcastle Harbour.
The pup – estimated to be no older than two weeks – was rescued by a member of Seal Watch Ireland and taken to the seal rescue centre at the Exploris Aquarium in Portaferry.
The weather station at Killowen, near Rostrevor, recorded a gust of 81mph (130km/h) on Sunday afternoon, the site’s highest October gust since records began in 1997.
