Minister of State Kieran O’Donnell has pledge to expedite plans to improve the culvert system in Bantry after heavy rains led to flood waters causing millions of euros of damage in the west Cork town over the weekend.
Some 20 businesses and houses were flooded on Saturday when torrential rain gushed down from Seskin and the other hills surrounding Bantry. The volume of water was so great that the culvert system that runs through the centre of town was unable to cope.
Torrents of water came down the Alley river at such speed that the 300 metre culvert system that empties water flows into a tidal area near Wolfe Tone Square was unable to cope, resulting in overflow flooding on New Street and Main Street.
The pressure of water following the huge burst of rain around lunch hour on Saturday also forced up manhole covers, resulting in water coming up drains and shores and through the floors of many of the businesses and homes along both streets in the centre of the town.
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Mr O’Donnell, who has responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), travelled to Bantry on Sunday to see the damage and meet business people and private house owners, who expressed their anger at the delay in both the upgrade of the culvert system and the commencement of a much larger Bantry flood relief scheme.
Danielle Delaney of the Bantry Business Association said traders were hugely frustrated at the delay in the delivery of both the culvert scheme and the larger flood relief scheme, given they had been promised in 2020 that work would commence on both schemes without undue delay.
“We had four floods in the space of 18 months between 2018 and 2020, and after the last one which caused extensive damage, we were promised work would start by Minister O’Donnell’s predecessor, Minister Patrick O’Donovan, but here we are four years later, flooded again.”
[ Cork floods: Clean-up operation after 65mm of rain recorded in some areasOpens in new window ]
Mr O’Donnell acknowledged the frustration of business people and homeowners in Bantry and conceded that the Bantry flood relief scheme would take a number of years to come to fruition, but he stressed he was committed to expediting the delivery of culvert improvements.
He said department officials, staff from the OPW, Cork County Council, Uisce Eireann and consulting engineers were progressing the culvert scheme, which he expected to be approved for planning next year and should take approximately 12 months of complete.
“The culvert is the key element here and I want to see it expedited – the technical side of it has been agreed between the OPW and Cork County Council, and the council are going to put it for planning this month and they are looking to start design on it next year.”
Mr O’Donnell said the Government would assist both business people and homeowners who had no insurance with emergency aid through the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department of Social Protection, as has happened in other towns hit by flooding.
He said the OPW would also approve funding for individual property protection such as flood barriers for doors, though he conceded it would not save all properties as Saturday’s flood saw water come up through shores and drains inside buildings rather than off the street.
Speaking on Sunday in Dublin, Taoiseach Simon Harris said ministers would bring memos to Cabinet on Tuesday to put in place financial supports for those affected.
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