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Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Energy
and Natural Resources, Mr. Seán Power TD, has announced the
commencement of a major new initiative on landslides mapping
by the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI).
Engineering consultants Mouchel
Ireland Ltd. have been commissioned by the GSI to
undertake landslides susceptibility mapping in two designated
areas of Ireland.
This project was a major recommendation in the 'Landslides
in Ireland' report published by the GSI in 2006. The
two areas involved are East Leinster and the Greater Cork
City area. These two regions encompass two of the major development
zones in Ireland. It is important to identify areas vulnerable
to landsliding, so as to minimise potential damage to infrastructural,
residential and commercial developments and to plan for sustainable
development in the future.
The project will include the coastal zone in the two areas
and will be scheduled over a number of years. This project
is important in the context of climate change, where Ireland
is predicted to experience higher intensity rainfall in the
winter season which will increase the risk of landsliding
in the country. Sea level is also predicted to rise and this
will make the coastal zone more vulnerable to erosion.
It is intended that the mapping methodology developed for
this project will be adapted to undertake landslides susceptibility
mapping in other areas of the country in the future.
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