‘Sandbags and sympathy’ on offer

MOPPING up operations continued yesterday in Fermoy as businesses and householders counted the cost of flooding.

Up to three feet of water had to be cleared out of shops in the low-lying Brian Boru Square, which bore the brunt of flooding.

Conor Donnellan and his mother, Angela, were busy sweeping out their pub, The Avondhu Bar.

“It came up to about two-and-a-half feet inside.

“The place is simply destroyed. It backed up from the drains and is going down a lot more slowly than usual,” said Conor, who seen 10 floods in the last 14 years.

Antonio Talossi, who owns the Wimpey restaurant next door, said: “We had to take out a lot of machines. Now we will have to get special driers to dry the place out. We closed after lunch on Thursday because we knew it was coming.”

He said he hoped to open for business today.

Staff at the adjacent internet cafe wisely made sure their computers were out of harm’s way before the flood arrived.

Stephen Carter was mopping up the floor. “We were lucky enough compared to others. Hopefully, we’ll be able to open up for the weekend,” said Stephen.

The mayor, Cllr John Murphy, toured flood damaged areas yesterday.

“All we can offer people are sandbags and sympathy, although we’ve had teams of town council staff helping in the clean-up.”

The major said he was still angry that the OPW’s flood relief programme for the town had been put on the long finger, but was happier to hear that Tom Parlon was going to apply a special hardship fund.

“I’ll be trying to find out all the details, such as when and how people can apply.

“I hope it’s simply not lip service,” added Cllr Murphy.