Storm damage leaves Louth with 3,000 potholes to fill

By Olivia Ryan, The Drogheda Independent

Louth County Council has recorded almost 3,000 new potholes across the county following a stormy January, more than double the number initially estimated.

At the council’s monthly meeting, Director of Services David Hanratty confirmed that a countywide assessment by the operations team revealed between 2,000 and 3,000 potholes, all of which had appeared “over a short period of time” after heavy rain and stormy conditions.

“There is a repair programme in place, which ranges from immediate repairs out to about eight weeks,” Mr Hanratty said. He added that the programme is designed to tackle the “most immediate damage” and will not cover every issue identified.

The council has applied to the Department of Transport for €1.2 million in emergency funding to repair the damage and “increase resilience for future incidents.”

Cllr Antoin Watters welcomed the funding application but urged the council to secure help from the Office of Public Works (OPW), particularly for areas repeatedly impacted by coastal and flash flooding.

He said the road at Ballagan near Whitestown in north Louth had deteriorated significantly, creating “a very dangerous situation.”

“We are going to lose a lot of the road network there if we don’t do works, sooner rather than later,” he warned.

Cllr Michelle Hall said regional roads across Louth had been left in poor condition.

“Potholes really need to be filled, the roads are really bad at the minute,” she said, acknowledging that repair crews were hampered by ongoing wet weather.

She also questioned the OPW’s reliance on media reports and public submissions to track flood damage, pointing to a recent example in Termonfeckin.

“I know the OPW are looking at pilot measures for flood incident recording, but it is ridiculous at the moment that they seem to be relying on media reports and letters in from the public. Is it the council’s responsibility to record and measure flooding?”

Mr Hanratty responded that Louth County Council records flood incidents through flooding.ie, a platform also accessible to the public.

He said a “concerted programme” of repairs was under way and crews were continuing to respond to new reports daily.

Meanwhile, Cllr Anne Marie Ford renewed her call for additional funding for Louth, citing an evidence-based report prepared by the council’s roads section.

She said the analysis found Louth ranked ninth out of nine counties for per‑capita road funding, while Leitrim received the highest allocation.

In terms of total road distance, Louth placed seventh out of nine, further highlighting a long‑standing funding gap.

Cllr Ford said she would circulate the report to fellow councillors and Louth’s TDs in an effort to bolster the case for more government support, given Louth’s role as a key cross-border corridor between Dublin and Belfast.