Donal Hickey: Praying for rain — in Ireland

Battling the wind and rain with an umbrella in Cork city. Picture: Denis Minihane.

IRISH folklore is replete with stories of priests praying for fine weather to help farmers save their crops in wet summers. However, the opposite could soon be happening when divine powers may have to be invoked to provide rain. And not just for farmers.

The many Irish people holidaying at home this year will probably have rain gear near the top of their packing list, but they may not need it at all. Seen as a wet country, we expect rain during the summer. Yet Ireland has the biggest trend in Europe for increasing summer drought and it is reckoned that around 1.76m of us are living in areas of stressed water supplies.