Soak it up! How Ireland’s cities can embrace the sponge revolution

'Sponge cities' promote urban resilience to climate change and we badly need initiatives like these in areas vulnerable to flooding

Sections of Marina Park, Cork working as a 'flood storage basin for the south docklands during rainfall flood events'. Pictured in November 2024

Ireland’s cities are getting wetter. In Cork, flash floods have swamped streets such as South Terrace with alarming regularity, while Dublin’s commuter belts, from Swords to Tallaght, turn into shallow lakes after heavy rain.

Met Éireann’s data backs up the soggy reality: rainfall intensity has spiked by 10-15% in parts of Ireland over the last 30 years, a trend linked to climate change. Our drains, many dating back to the 19th century, can’t keep up, and neither can our concrete-heavy urban sprawl.