Cork flooding made worse by people deliberately blocking drains, councillor says

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

Flooding issues in County Cork are being exacerbated by some people covering drains and blocking inlets to divert the water away from their own properties, a meeting of the Bandon-Kinsale Municipal District heard this week.

Speaking at the meeting about the recent heavy rainfall in West Cork, Cllr Marie O’Sullivan said: “I don't want to be mentioning areas now but...some neighbours of people [appear to] have taken it upon themselves to cover over drains with steel plates and things like that. This isn't fair on their neighbours, causing other houses to flood. Our workers can't get access to the drain because there's a steel plate there.”

“I think it's something that we really need to look at and try to mitigate against it because it's not fair. It’s ‘once I'm all right Jack’ it doesn't matter if your house floods because you haven't got access to a drain,” Cllr O’Sullivan said.

Local area engineer Richard Cahill responded that Cork County Council is aware of the problem. “We're working to resolve that issue. Another issue is where the inlets were closed up because they didn’t want water going into their field that was coming from a neighbour's property, even though this is the low point of the road,” he said.

“We deal with those issues on an ongoing basis. We're actively trying to resolve that one that was mentioned about the steel cover. It’s disappointing to see that approach but we'll try and get it resolved,” Mr Cahill said, stressing that only a small number of people are behaving this way.

Cllr John Michael Foley agreed, saying that “most people are clearing the drains and letting the water flow, this is the exception.”

Communities across County Cork have suffered serious flooding in recent years, including Bantry and Midleton where major flood relief schemes are being planned.