Group issues alternative flood defence plan

Campaigners opposed to the Office of Public Work’s €140 million flood defence plan for Cork have insisted that a tidal barrier can be built for €135m as part of their three-point plan to protect the city from flooding.

The Save Cork City group outlined their alternative proposals last night and insisted a tidal barrier, extensive quayside repair, and a raft of upstream measures to slow the flow of the River Lee are “right for Cork” from a cultural, heritage and economic point of view.

In what is the largest flood defence scheme in the history of the State, the OPW has proposed a combination of measures, including changes to the management of the Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid dams, and the construction of direct flood defences, including embankments on the Lee Fields, in Fitzgerald’s Park, as well as raised quay walls along the city centre’s northern river channel.