Carlow and Wexford hit by renewed flooding

RENEWED FLOODING in Cos Carlow and Wexford at the weekend is likely to result in increased demand for flood protection measures, according to local authorities.

Flooding in Tullow, Co Carlow, and Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, affected many homes and businesses for the second time since last November.

Extensive flooding up to 3½ft occurred when the Slaney burst its banks in Tullow.

In the west of the county the Barrow burst its banks in Carlow town, flooding Centaur Street for the second time in just three months.

Carlow County Council director of services Dan McInerney said melting snow from both the Blackstairs and Wicklow mountains caused floods which had also washed away “whole sections” of a number of roads.

In Co Wexford, Enniscorthy town clerk Pádraig O’Gorman said about 15 businesses along the quays were flooded “to a couple of feet”, up to four of which he estimated were now structurally damaged.

Mr O’Gorman said a flood relief scheme had been prepared for the town but local concern had been voiced about the visual impact of the proposed height of the quay walls.

It had been suggested that some form of glass blocks might alleviate the problem, and he said he expected there would be a renewed enthusiasm in the town to proceed after the most recent floods.

The Government has set aside some €50 million for flood relief schemes in this year’s budget, an increase of €7 million on last year’s allocation.

While the Enniscorthy scheme alone has been costed at about €30 million, a spokesman for the Office of Public Works said the funding and schemes were “multi-annual”, allowing several schemes to proceed at once.

In Dublin the city council said the situation in relation to water supplies was that rationing would continue over the coming week at least. Pressure was being increased slightly to provide for the detection and remediation of leaks.

However, a spokesman said water tankers would continue to be a feature of the distribution short-term.

While water supplies continued to improve in many counties, water will continue to be cut off at night in many areas.

The Department of Transport said it would announce the individual road grants for local authorities in the next two weeks.

A spokesman said following the weekend’s renewed damage to local and regional roads, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey would be seeking additional cash from Government.

However, the spokesman said this was not necessarily a reversal of last week’s position when the Minister said there would be no increases on the overall €400 million total.

“He will do his best to get whatever is available, but unfortunately there is only what is there,” said the spokesman.

The department told The Irish Times that the authorities had been asked to provide details of “exceptional road-related costs associated with the recent flooding and prolonged severe weather which fall outside the normal financial provision for winter maintenance”.