Wales-Ireland CHERISH project welcomes ministerial visit

Eluned Morgan, Welsh Minister for International Relations and the Welsh language, stepped aboard RV Mallet research vessel (11/03) to meet members of the CHERISH project during a visit to the Royal Irish Yacht Club, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, as part of Wales Week.

The CHERISH (Climate, Heritage and Environments of Reefs, Islands and Headlands) project employs the latest technology to analyse coastal and island archaeology and heritage sites most affected by climate change, coastal erosion, storminess and rising sea levels in Ireland and Wales.

The six-year project is funded (€6.2m) by the EU’s ‘Ireland-Wales 2014-2020 European Territorial Co-operation (ETC)’ programme. The partners are Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, the Discovery Programme: Centre for Archaeology and Innovation Ireland, Aberystwyth University: Department of Geography and Earth Sciences and Geological Survey Ireland.

Study sites include Drumanagh, Co Dublin; Rosslare, Co Wexford and Skellig Michael, Co Kerry, as well as the shipwrecks of SS Manchester Merchant at Dingle and the City of London off the Wexford coast.

Understanding the past, present and future impacts of climate change on coasts and coastal communities requires a cross-disciplinary, international approach.

The CHERISH project achieves this by combining geology, archaeology, remote sensing and marine mapping to develop state-of-the-art data sets for future planning and climate change mitigation.

Koen Verbruggen, Director of Geology Survey Ireland said the CHERISH project was a “great example of continuing Welsh-Irish collaboration” to use science to understand the potential impacts of climate change on coastlines.

In 2019, the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment launched a Climate Action Plan

” The work of this project, the INFOMAR project and Geological Survey Ireland is essential in contributing to understanding our coasts and seabed, and in working towards a sustainable energy for Ireland,” remarked Seán Canney, Minister of State for Natural Resources.

Minister Morgan described the CHERISH project as a “true testament” of the close work between two “fabulous countries”.