Cork City’s traders ‘need support more than ever now’

All across Cork City, there were water pumps buzzing as exhausted traders stood at the front door throwing bucket after bucket of flood water out of their premises.

Traders said they couldn’t cross from one side of Oliver Plunkett St to the other without waders as the water was above wellington boot level.

And it didn’t stop. The flood water continued to rise in the 20 minutes after the much dreaded 8.50pm high tide, and it was only after many traders dared open their front door that the water flooded in.

Rosemary Cronin, who has just opened up her Blue Willow gift Shop off Oliver Plunkett St, said even with sandbags, some of the shops now had 6in of water inside.

“It is bad. But it’s not as bad as what we had expected because there were such warnings compared to earlier in the week and we were well prepared. The factor that changed everything is that the wind died down before high tide. Also if the rain had been heavier, we would have two to three times worse. Our thoughts are with the homeowners tonight. At least I’ll go home to a dry bed.”

In the half hour after high tide, water was lapping up against the doors of some of St Patrick’s Street’s best-known shops. And all the side streets between Oliver Plunkett St and St Patrick’s Street were under water.

St Patrick’s Street was impassible to cars and some vehicles left parked on the city’s main street look certain to be written off as they were surrounded by up to 2ft of water.

In Kinsale, Co Cork, the sea broke its wall by the Bulman bar and water rushed up against the front door.

The Lower Glanmire Rd near Cork City was also impassable due to flooding, meaning that a planned closure of the Jack Lynch Tunnel had to be put off.

“The big thing now is that people have to realise that many of us will be back trading tomorrow and we need support more than ever now. Cork is still open for business,” Mrs Cronin said.

The city was like a ghost town last night as most people had heeded the city manager’s request to stay at home. “We need to see the opposite over the coming days, we need people to rally around,” she said.

Cork City Council is going to be under enormous pressure from the city’s traders in the coming days. They have been calling for years for details about when the Office of Public Works will install flood barriers in the city.

It is now seven years since submissions were sought from traders on a flood relief scheme.