As widespread serious flooding continued to affect south Co Galway yesterday, members of the Civil Defence rescued cattle stranded in the Grannagh Ardrahan area and many houses remained inaccessible with secondary roads deep in water.
The Irish Farmers' Association estimates that 5,000 acres are flooded in the south county area, almost matching the 6,000 acres swamped during the 1994-1995 floods that affected Gort and surrounding townlands.
The IFA's South Galway branch chairman, Mr Michael Kelly, said farmers there were used to a certain level of water, but the speed at which levels rose this year was alarming.
"Normally it can take four to five weeks, but this time it was a matter of days," he said. Extensive afforestation in the area may be having a negative impact, he added.
A £2.5 million programme to tackle flooding in south Galway will be initiated next year, the Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mr Noel Treacy, has pledged.
However, it may be autumn before work has begun, following a design and tendering scheme run by the Office of Public Works (OPW).
The £2.5 million was allocated in the Budget and is designed to tackle five critical areas prone to flooding in the region, according to the Minister of State.
Mr Treacy visited parts of his Galway East constituency this week to see at first hand the extent of the weather damage, after rainfall estimated at over three times normal in the west for this period.
For the IFA, Mr Kelly welcomed the Minister's commitment, but said steps must be taken to expedite the programme.
Over 200 families were affected by the 1995 floods in Gort Ardrahan, which cost an estimated £10 million. Seven of the most affected families were paid a total of £300,000 under a relocation scheme, and the Red Cross gave humanitarian aid from a European Commission fund.
At the time there was much criticism of the decision by Galway County Council to give planning approval for houses constructed on karstic land known to be liable to flooding.
Farmers have been living with the problem for 10 years, according to Mr Kelly, who is critical of a consultancy study commissioned by the OPW after the 1994-95 floods.
The costings for serious work effectively excused the Government from action, Mr Kelly said. The consultancy study did identify five areas where alleviation measures could make a positive contribution, and these areas are now pinpointed in the new £2.5 million scheme.
The townlands named in the plan are: Ballyglass/ Cregclare/Ardrahan; Mannin and Craughwell; Termon and Gort area; Kilchreest, Loughrea; and Kiltiernan /Ballinderren.
Thousands of acres of lands and hundreds of homes will benefit from the proposed measures when work is completed, the Minister of State said.
He has held meetings with members of the South Galway IFA branch, which maintains that the diversion of the Owenshree river in the Kilchreest area would make a major contribution to tackling the problem.
However, the area's wetlands comprise a range of turloughs, marshes and lakes unmatched anywhere else in Ireland or the world, and include a remarkable selection of plant species and communities.
The OPW's approach has been influenced by designation of some affected townlands as special areas of conservation (SACs) under the EU Habitats Directive.
