Cliff Walk Committee Update – April 2026

Yesterday's cliff walk committee meeting brought some encouraging progress to report. Representatives from RPS and Council staff provided updates on the work completed since our last gathering, and there is genuine momentum building behind the scenes.

RPS have been busy. Both potential rope contractors have now visited the site to assess the scope of the survey work required, and RPS has produced a scoping document that sets out clearly what the rope access contractors will do when surveying the cliff faces. The site is a designated Special Area of Conservation, which means every step requires careful consideration under both Irish and EU law. The scoping document was developed in collaboration with an ecologist and now needs to go to Irish Rail and the National Parks and Wildlife Service for approval. The NPWS approval process typically takes around six weeks, but I'm pleased to say this has been expedited through the Tánaiste's task force. After the meeting, the RPS team headed straight back out to the cliff walk, as reports have come in of further land slippage since their last visit, a reminder of just how dynamic and challenging this site is.

On the Greystones side, the Council executive confirmed that landowner negotiations are continuing to progress, which is another important piece of the puzzle moving forward.

On a more personal note, I want to say something about the tone of these meetings, because I think it matters. I find the committee meetings quite difficult at times. There is a lot of energy directed at what did or didn't happen in the past, much of it well before the tenure of most people currently in the room, including all of the Council staff present. This has created an atmosphere of distrust that makes it hard to have open and productive conversations. I want to stress that the press releases that come out of these meetings are an agreed, transparent account of what was discussed.

I also think it's worth gently reminding some stakeholders that Council staff and elected members are pulled in many directions at once. The cliff walk is important, and everyone involved wants to see it open, but it is one of many pressing issues we are dealing with. In my own work, I am currently receiving almost daily reports from constituents facing notices to quit on their tenancies, people who cannot pay their bills, and the wider impacts of the ongoing war in the Middle East. These are urgent issues and also demand time, attention, and care. I raise this not to diminish the cliff walk or the passion people have for it, but to ask for a little understanding and good faith from all sides.

I strongly believe that to get the cliff walk open, we need to focus on the present.  On the work being done now and the steps ahead, rather than focusing on the past. We can acknowledge that things could have been handled differently earlier without letting that consume every meeting.