Undredged rivers in west Cork ‘flooding places that were never flooded before’

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

Communities in West Cork are fearful of what the winter ahead holds with last week’s Storm Amy, the first serious storm of the season, dumping enough rainfall to overflow rivers and flood properties in areas around Bantry.

Cllr Danny Collins raised the issue at this week’s meeting of the West Cork Municipal District. He said places like Coomhola, Ballylickey, Pearson's Bridge, Carriganass, Madore and Reenroe all face flooding, which he attributes to the rivers flowing through those areas not being dredged for decades.

“We had 12 hours of solid rain. In Borlin, we had a road basically broken up, just taken away. Down in Coomhola Bridge the water was going over the bridge, which was never seen before, and a house next door to it getting flooded.”

"And you had over in Reenroe and Madore houses getting flooded. This is not climate change, this is basic common sense. I know for a fact that since the 1980s our rivers are not being dredged,” he said.

Cllr Collins said he got a call from an elderly woman in Ballylickey last week asking for sandbags. When he brought them to her “there was water all around her house, herself and her husband, they came out to me with the fear on their faces.”

“She points across the road and says ‘Danny, when is that river going to be dredged? We've been promised this, we've been promised that, and nothing happened.’ She said, does the pearl mussel have more power over us? These people should not be put through this. They’re living lives of fear if any bad weather comes along.”

The Independent Ireland councillor accused the OPW and successive ministers of “dragging their feet. It’s going on far, far too long. Places that never got flooded before are getting flooded now. It’s basic common sense, the rivers are full of sludge.”

Cllr Caroline Cronin agreed with Cllr Collins and also raised the issue of Inchyclough Bridge near Bantry, which was damaged in a previous storm and hasn’t been repaired.

“That’s another area I was worried about over the weekend, watching things on social media and seeing how bad it was and thinking that bridge is going to go. That's another thing that needs to be fixed because I know there's a lot of elderly people using that road up to the Mealagh Valley who are nervous of it,” she said.

Cllr Collins called on the Municipal District (MD) to write to Minister of State Kevin Boxer Moran, who has responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), and the OPW. “I'm asking that we invite our minister and representatives from the OPW to come to meet with us and we’ll take them out to meet with the people who are from that area,” he said. The MD agreed to send the letters.

Councillors across county Cork have long argued that not dredging streams and rivers is contributing to flooding. The authorities say that dredging endangers the freshwater pearl mussel, which is a protected species.