Concern over state of railings at Doolin Pier

THERE are concerns about the railings at the Pier used by surfers and swimmers at Doolin Pier, writes Owen Ryan.
Speaking to The Clare Champion this week Sarah McTiernan, chair of Doolin Community Council said that while the railings have been replaced in previous years, it hasn’t happened in 2021.
“They have been replaced every year. Doolin gets bad storms and a lot of damage gets done to the car park, sometimes the Ticket Offices and the slipway at the pier. Every year, as far back as I remember, when those railings have been damaged they’ve been replaced.”
She added, “There was a bad storm around the end of March or the start of April and that’s when the railings started to go. Piece by piece they started to get pulled into the sea and right now there’s no protection at the steps.
“There would always have been a railing at the top of the pier, and there’s a partial railing on the steps, you’re missing the beginning of it. I’m eight months pregnant and when I go down I hold onto the wall, whereas there used to always be a railing.
“The steps can be slippy, as you’d expect by the sea, but the Council did do maintenance on that, when we raised the issue. Now, part of the railing is loose, there’s a metal piece loose and you could get a bad scrape from it. As you go down, the very bottom part is connected to concrete at the last step, and that has now rusted and is coming away.”
She said that there are hundreds of people now swimming there every week, with a huge amount of visitors to the area.