Louth County Council given €114,300 in funding towards flood mitigation works

What was left of the main Whitestown to Ballagan coast road on the Cooley peninsula following a storm last year.

Louth County Council has been allocated €114,300 of funding by the OPW for Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Schemes.

The bulk of the funding – €81,000 – is set to go toward a Coastal Erosion Risk Management Study of Dundalk Bay, taking in Greenore, Dillonstown and Blackrock, as well as Whitestown and Seabank.

Seabank in Castlebellingham has also been granted €13,500 to repair the sea defence there.

Menawhile €10,800 has been given to the council towards Annagassan for the construction of a rock armour revetment there.

Finally, €9,000 will go towards the placing of rock armour along the embankment at Bellurgan.

Commenting on the funding, local Senator Mary Moran said: “The works in Castlebellingham, Annagassan and Bellurgan will help to repair and secure these areas in the coming months.  I look forward to the upcoming improvements in each of these locations and the contribution of the Coastal Erosion Risk Management Study to be undertaken.”

Boat making its way into Dundalk Bay as the sun sets

Thanks to local photographer Darran Rafferty for sharing this superb shot with us of a boat sailing into Dundalk Bay as the sun was setting.

Blackrock Village Centre on verge of being sold

The Blackrock Village Centre is close to being sold.

The modern neighbourhood scheme, which extends to 1,012sqm (10,893sq ft), went on the market just last month with local estate agents Sherry FitzGerald Carroll for an asking price of €1.65m.

However, it has recently gone sale agreed with the finer details of the sale just to be ironed out. It is not known as yet what sum was accepted for the village centre or who the buyer is.

With anchor stores including Bradley’s Pharmacy and Centra, the property is 88% let to four tenants at a current rent of €178,372 per annum, with Fusion Hair Salon and Blackrock Dental Surgery also based there.

In total the centre includes two retail units downstairs and three upstairs, with the first floor benefitting from a balcony area that boasts spectacular views over Dundalk Bay.

Seafront site in Blackrock on the market for €300,000

The view from the site

One of the last remaining seafront development sites in Blackrock has gone on the market with local estate agents Sherry FitzGerald Carroll.

The unique property at The Square commands uninterrupted views of Dundalk Bay across to the Cooley Mountains.

With an old three bed semi-detached two storey house on the site, the land has an asking price of €300,000. The property has a large garden, extending to c0.5 acres, which runs down to the foreshore and overlooks Carrapuncha Rock.

The property is being sold on the basis that a buyer could develop their own styled home on the site, subject to planning permission.

For further details contact Sherry FitzGerald Carroll on 042 9332173.

An aerial view of the site’s location at The Square

Online registration for Dundalk 10k closes tonight

Online registration for this Wednesday’s Dundalk 10k closes at midnight and event organisers are encouraging anyone who intends to avail of the online discount to visit www.Dundalk10k.com as soon as possible.

The 2015 route will take participants from the DkIT Campus, through the picturesque village of Blackrock and along the rustic beauty of Dundalk Bay before returning back to the finish line where runners can enjoy complimentary refreshments.

Runners who participated in the trial run last Wednesday were extremely pleased with the new route especially, as local man Sean McKenna described it, “the pleasant sea breeze from Dundalk Bay which helps to cool you down on the home stretch.”

The event is open to participants of all fitness levels and is sponsored by Servisource Recruitment and Fyffes. The Dundalk 10k race begins on Wednesday at 7pm and runners are invited to a pre-race warm up routine which will be hosted at the start line from 6.30pm.

Pre-race online registration costs just €20, as online entrants receive a €5 discount, while race day registration costs €25. This includes chipping, a race number and a free Dundalk 10k t-shirt for the first 800 entrants.

DkIT is hosting a registration day on Tuesday from 4pm-8pm, where participants can pick up race numbers and t-shirts, while race day registration takes place from 2pm-6pm.

Blackrock Village Centre on the market

The Blackrock Village Centre has been placed up for sale with an asking price of €1.65m.

The modern neighbourhood scheme, which extends to 1,012sqm (10,893sq ft), is on the market with local estate agents Sherry FitzGerald Carroll.

With anchor stores including Bradley’s Pharmacy and Centra, the property is 88% let to four tenants at a current rent of €178,372 per annum, with Fusion Hair Salon and Blackrock Dental Surgery also based there.

In total the centre includes two retail units downstairs and three upstairs, with the first floor benefitting from a balcony area that boasts spectacular views over Dundalk Bay.

For further details contact Sherry FitzGerald Carroll on 042 9332173.

The San Siro

Masterpiece Aerial Photography recently captured this superb shot of the Sean O’Mahony’s GFC pitch on the Point Road.

Nicknamed the ‘San Siro’ locally, there is a fantastic background view of the Navvy Bank, Dundalk Bay and the Cooley Mountains.

Sunrise over Dundalk Bay

Thanks to Kieran Murphy for sharing this fantastic shot of the sunrise over Dundalk Bay on St Valentine’s Day morning.

The sun is silhouetted by trees in the shot, making it a romantic sunrise for people to have woken up to.

Source: Kieran Murphy (Twitter)

Clogherhead Lifeboat to visit Dundalk Quays this Saturday

This Saturday the Clogherhead Lifeboat will carry out a training exercise in Dundalk Bay before proceeding up the river to Dundalk at 12 noon. The focus of the exercise is to prepare for an emergency at sea involving any water based activity ranging from swimming or kayaking to leisure boating and fishing vessels.

Subject to operational requirements, the Lifeboat will remain at the quayside in Dundalk until 1:15pm and the public are invited to visit the boat and talk with the crew.

In 2013 the Clogherhead RNLI Lifeboat launched 11 times in response to emergency calls, eight of those services were in the dark. Clogherhead Lifeboat provides an on call, 24-hour search and rescue service in an area that stretches up to 30 miles out to sea and along the coast from Skerries in north Dublin to Carlingford in north Louth.

 

Cyclepath planned from Dundalk to Scotland

Part of the walkway/cyclepath linking Carlingford and Omeath which would form part of the planned route from Dundalk Bay to the ferry in Larne

A network of cycle paths, which would take in Dundalk, could be developed from the east coast of Ireland to Scotland.

Louth County Council is working with Newry and Mourne District Council and the Lough’s Agency to develop a cycle route from Dundalk Bay along the existing Newry Canal Towpath and on to Lough Neagh.

Depending on the allocation of funding, the cycle route could be extended south from Dundalk to Dublin, while the cycleway in the North will continue to the ferry at Larne. From there, it would like up with Scottish cycleways.

Catherine Duff, senior engineer at Louth County Council, told the Sunday Business Post that part of the project was already complete in Louth, with a six-kilometre cycle path recently constructed on the old railway line between Omeath and Carlingford.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland has long sections of cycleway already in place with the completion of the project a matter of “filling in the gaps” according to those overseeing it.

Local authorities on both sides of the border will apply for funding from the EU’s Interreg programme in the next series of funding rounds early next year.