Scathing attack on flood relief scheme

A SCATHING attack on Clonmel’s new flood relief scheme has been launched by the secretary of the Workman’s Boat Club in the Tipperary town.

Retired teacher Shay Hurley claimed the scheme had “rewarded the theft of land from the flood plain”. He described the scheme, at a public forum, as “mind-boggling, stultifying and absolutely incredible”.

He said it rewarded developers, speculators and the local authority, and no one had been held accountable for the damage caused to the town’s history and heritage.

Mr Hurley was speaking at the public forum on water issues chaired by MEPs Phil Prendergast and Sean Kelly. The flood scheme was among the issues discussed.

It is due to be completed next summer. The works followed a series of catastrophic floods that devastated homes and businesses in the town when the river Suir burst its banks.

Mr Hurley claimed the heart of medieval Clonmel on the river and the heritage of Suir Island had been destroyed.

He said the OPW, responsible for the scheme, was in a no-win situation because the damage had already been done by decisions taken in the past by the borough council and county council.

He welcomed the scheme for what it was and said he had no problem with the contractors and consultants, who were professional and doing their job. However, he said the scheme rewarded bad practice.

All of the quay stones had been removed but not one had been incorporated into “the so-called new quay”.

He said there had been at least 23 medieval arches on the Old Bridge but just three remained.

He claimed “a flat-pack bridge” had replaced all the arches and there was no aesthetic to the new structure.

He said flooding had occurred in the town regularly since a huge amount of the land bank had been removed by the local authority from Joyce’s Lane over a decade ago. A pipe laid underneath the street, he suggested, would have been sufficient.

Mr Hurley said a former borough engineer had described Suir Island as the jewel in the crown of Clonmel but now it was home to “an acropolis of rubbish” — the remains of what were once the island’s great houses and the mills.