The study, conducted by Enda Murphy of the School of Planning and Environmental policy at UCD and Eoin A. King of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Hartford in the United States and published in the academic journal Environment International, looks at the extent of noise exposure in and around Dublin Port and what effects these pose for local residents.
The study looks specifically at the level of night-time noise being accumulated from the port, which according to the study includes noise from the movement of cranes, loaded containers, ground vehicles and siren noise.
“Three nights a week or five nights a week they’ll work right through the night unloading. When you see it, it’s quite unbelievable,” said Murphy, who researched the noise at Dublin Port and parts of Pigeon House Road in Ringsend.
The study was conducted over a 45-day period as part of general academic research, conducted through a combination of interviews with local residents and late-night recordings of the area to detect noise levels. Previously, residents of Ringsend and Pigeon House Road hired noise consultants, Fehily Timoney, to come to the area and look at the noise levels.
The study also found that there are a large number of intermittent noises, which aren’t generally heard by humans, but may disturb a person’s sleep pattern, as a result causing long-term health problems.
“The big health risks associated with excessive exposure to noise are sleep disturbance and general annoyance but sleep disturbances have a lot of secondary effects,” said Murphy.
The study also contained complaints from local people who said the excessive amount of noise has a detrimental effect on a person’s character and in some cases made them moody or generally irritable.
“It makes me agitated,” said one local resident. “You know, sometimes you go to bed at half ten, eleven and you sleep for four hours then you get a bang.”
The study suggested that the noise is also having an effect on the children of residents in the area.
By Liam Cahill
