A large sinkhole has opened up on the side of a local road near a village in west Co. Cork, prompting safety concerns from locals.

The sinkhole opened in the Allihies area of west Cork, and is believed to have occurred due to the collapse of an old mine shaft under the road.

It is thought to have opened in recent days due to torrential rainfall in the area.

[yes-app]

[/yes-app]

Local man Finbarr Harrington spoke to local radio station C103 yesterday, Sunday, October 20.

Commenting on the matter, Harrington said: “There’s a lot of copper mines in Allihies; and I suppose in years gone by there was a lot of mining done in Allihies.

“This is what’s after happening; it’s an old mine shaft that would have been under the road and that’s why there was a collapse and caused a big sinkhole. It’s a busy enough little road; it’s a typical rural byroad.

There would be a good few people using it – but the big thing here is it’s extremely dangerous.

“It’s quite a substantial hole; it’s quite deep. No one really knows how deep it is.

“It became more noticeable there in the past week when we had all this torrential rain; when it really opened up and collapsed. A number of them have collapsed in the past but nothing like this, so close to the road.”

Harrington said he doesn’t believe there’s any way of preventing a repeat of such an incident, adding that, when the mining company in the area was operating, a lot of speculating was done to test for copper.

“There’s lots of these old mines and drillings done there so nobody knows really the extent of them and where they’re going to show up,” he said.