GALWAY:SOUTH Galway free range egg farmer Frank Commins says he has had many "Homer Simpson" moments over the last three days, since the Clarin river flooded into his shed, housing 5,000 hens.
Yesterday he was wading through three feet of water to feed the birds, but has now run out of meal as the roads around his farm in Clarinbridge are inaccessible.
"The sun was shining when I heard the water running through the stone walls on Friday morning, and it was a shock, due to its speed and the fact that we have never had flooding here before," he told The Irish Times.
The birds on slats had just started laying and were very stressed by the situation. The river is at least 1,000m from his farm.
With the help of two neighbouring farmers, using slurry tankers, some of the water was dispersed. “You couldn’t get a pump for love nor money . . . plan D was to use buckets,” he said.
Mr Commins believes there is “no point in getting angry” at the moment, as “the blame game will get us nowhere”. However, he believes lessons will have to be learned from the experience in the west and south.
“Put it like this – if we don’t prepare, then Athlone could be hosting the Volvo Ocean Race instead of Galway next time round,” he says.
Mr Commins was one of hundreds of farmers experiencing hardship across the west and south over the weekend, and Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) president Padraig Walshe, who visited Galway, said lack of action over drainage and a plethora of “too many agencies” had exacerbated the problem.
“This is not just a recall of flooding here in 1995 and 2000 . . . there are places covered in water that were never flooded before,” IFA environment representative in Galway Michael Kelly said.
The flooding of the Clare river in north Galway, and the Dunkellin river, running from Loughrea through east Galway to Kilcolgan, have caused havoc, but money which could have been spent a few years ago could have avoided some of the problems now, he said.
“Just today, the Kilchreest and Ballylee rivers have met in Kiltartan area, cutting off the hamlet of Rinnerush, and covering hundreds of hundreds of acres of land in the Gort area. Fodder has been swept away, and large numbers of septic tanks and slatted houses have been affected – which may in turn have serious environmental problems. This water is still going to be here on Christmas Day,” said Mr Kelly.
Out on the Headford road near Galway city, a group of Travellers who were unable to find accommodation in halting sites woke up to flooding of their caravans on Saturday. Three of their horses were trapped in rising water, and several men waded waist deep to try and reach them.
Water levels are still “serious” in Ballinasloe, Claregalway, Abbeyknockmoy, Craughwell, Gort and many smaller villages in the east,north and south of Galway county, while storm force winds lashed coastal areas yesterday, causing some structural damage.
Galway East TD Noel Treacy (FF), who accompanied Minister of State for the OPW Martin Mansergh on a late-night visit of affected areas on Saturday, said the situation in Ballinasloe was “heartbreaking”. Flooding in the town since the river Suck burst its banks has closed the railway line, with train services running between Dublin and Athlone only.
Galway County Council has spent the weekend trying to arrange emergency accommodation for families evacuated from four housing estates in Ballinasloe, while some 40 Army personnel have been providing assistance in the Derrymullen area of the town.
