Minister warns West Cork will get 'a lot more' flooding in the coming years

Flash floods were unprecedented, says Minister of State 

Pictured at Rosscarbery Co Cork was Patrick O'Donovan Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public getting a tour of the flooded communities by Ezra McManamon of the OPW with Tim Lucey CEO Cork County Council and Senetor Tim Lombard. Picture: Denis Boyle

Massive flood relief programmes are high on the agenda for the new Minister of State at the Office of Public Works, with his own family set to be among the beneficiaries of such schemes.

Touring the parts of West Cork which have been badly hit by flooding, Patrick O'Donovan said he fully understands the impact of flooding and committed to assisting communities like Rosscabery, Dunmanway and Bandon, which have been worst hit in recent years.

Asked about flood relief works in Bandon, for example, he said: “I have a little personal knowledge about this because my brother's pub was flooded three times in Bandon, and my sister-in-law's shop has flooded.”

Mr O'Donovan said flash floods that hit West Cork twice last week amounted to “an unprecedented flooding event”.

He said this was due to “a massive amount of rainfall over a very short period of time and the streams and the rivers around the area just became inundated”.

And he warned: “We're going to get a lot more of this over the years. Our climate has changed. It will change.

Our river levels will rise and communities are going to face this as a problem and the OPW will need the support of all parts of the government.

His stark warning came just before further weather warnings were issued for different parts of Ireland, including Cork city, where the council warned of a risk of flooding in low-lying parts of the city, such as South Terrace and Morrison's Quay, due to the bad weather expected in the coming days.

As Mr O'Donovan toured communities like Connonagh, Dunmanway and Rosscarbery, he also met with Cork County Council officials to discuss what has been done to help and what more needs to be done.

He said he came at short notice but managed to agree on “a series of measures in the short term with a view to putting forward longer-term proposals”.

Flooding in Rosscarberry over the weekend. Picture: Andy Gibson

He denied some concerns which had been raised locally that successful flood relief schemes in places like Clonakilty and the soon-to-be completed project Bandon are merely moving the problem onto towns like Rosscarbery.

“When the OPW models its flood relief schemes, it took into consideration not only the place that has been immediately flooded but also the wider catchment area of the River affected and its tributaries,” he said.

Asked about a tweet from a local Fianna Fáil TD announcing a raft of measures to help this affected by the floods in advance of his own press conference in Dunmanway, he said he was not aware of it.

Cork South-West TD Christopher O’Sullivan tweeted about an hour before the minister’s scheduled press conference that his Fianna Fáil colleague, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien, had vowed to help those affected by floods.

“My primary concern is the people are been flooded," Mr O'Donovan said.

Picture: Andy Gibson

“I was too busy with the OPW and Cork County Council and my only priority is to work with those agencies.

“I want to make sure we are able to assist communities like Dunmanway, like Rosscarbery, like Clonakilty, like Bandon.

And all the tweeting in the world isn't going to change that.