By Sabrina Sweeney

Along Falcarragh Strand, Rathmullan Pier or any stretch of Donegal coast, people visit and walk to soak up the view, to clear their heads and to feel energised and restored by the sea air.

Long stretches of soft sand give way to rugged rocks and cliffs that jut out into the crashing Atlantic sea.

The tides shift constantly, reshaping the shoreline between the storms, while the familiar shape of islands and distant communities is a reminder that beauty and isolation often live side by side along this coast.

For those of us who live here, the landscape can stop us in our tracks every day. It invites calm and still feels untouched. Yet in places far away, drug traffickers are looking at this same coastline and seeing something different.

They don’t care about its beauty. For them, the silence around the inlets and coves is a logistical opportunity for a small boat to come ashore unseen or to carry out activities without anyone paying attention. Where we see home, they see a landing point.

This week saw the relaunch of the Donegal Divisional Coastal Watch initiative in which Gardaí are asking people to report anything that seems out of place, whether that’s a vessel that lingers too long or a strange light from the sea.

The goal is to make Ireland a difficult place for traffickers to operate. But it’s a tall order considering Donegal’s shoreline alone stretches for more than a thousand kilometres.

From Inishowen to Killybegs, it’s wild, remote and, in many places, unguarded.

We’ve seen before how easily that isolation can be used. Last summer, around 60 kilos of cocaine, worth approximately €4 million, was found washed up along the Fanad and Falcarragh coastlines. A boat was later impounded at Magheraroarty Pier as part of the investigation. It’s believed the drugs were part of a larger shipment that went off course or was partially lost.

That discovery, and others like it, underline why Coastal Watch has been revived. But it will only work if it’s rooted in strong local links.

Policing in rural Ireland has always depended on information gathered on the ground and on guards who live within the communities they serve. They know the coastline and can tell when a boat or a face doesn’t fit.

In many areas, that kind of local knowledge has faded. Smaller stations now open only a few hours a week and officers are often rotated between districts.

Without the familiar faces of community guards, people are less likely to share the small but vital observations that once made a difference.

Coastal Watch asks people to return to those habits, such as keeping an eye out, noticing changes and reporting when something feels off. But it can’t become a substitute for proper policing.

The public can assist, but they can’t patrol. They can report, but they can’t investigate. And if it’s to work, the communities being asked to take part must also feel valued.

Fishing towns and rural coastal areas are already under strain from economic pressures and uncertainty about the future. Such vulnerabilities don’t just weaken livelihoods; they can weaken defences too as traffickers look for places where oversight is light.

That’s not a reflection on the people who live there, but on the conditions they’re left with.

If the government wants coastal communities to help guard the shoreline, there is work to be done rebuilding trust and valuing those communities.

In places where people have been left to get on with things for so long, when livelihoods are uncertain and support feels distant, it becomes easier to turn a blind eye because there’s a sense that nobody in power is listening anyway.

The danger isn’t so much that they’ll take part in the trade, but that they’ll stop believing it has anything to do with them.

Protecting the coastline, then, is about more than telling people to keep an eye out.

When communities feel seen and supported, most will act morally. But if there’s apathy, who knows?

What’s certain is that Donegal’s coastline deserves better stories than those that paint it as a smugglers’ paradise. It might play well on screen, but nobody wants to see that script play out for real.