Climate change will turn people in Ireland into migrants, says junior minister

Patrick O'Donovan predicts that people will have to leave their homes because of the effects of climate change saying that we need to stop treating it as a problem that is in the distant future.

Cork is "going around on a merry-go-round of planning", said Patrick O'Donovan, Minister of State at the Office of Public Works. Picture: Larry Cummins

It is a miracle that people were not drowned in their beds in Cork during intense flooding, a junior minister has said.

Discussing the very real and imminent threat that climate change poses to the country, Patrick O'Donovan said the perilous state of Cork city gives him the greatest level of concern.

The Minister of State at the Office of Public Works (OPW) warned that there is a "profound risk of flooding because of climate change in some parts of the country".

He predicts that people will have to leave their homes because of the effects of climate change and said we need to stop treating it as a problem that is in the distant future. It is not enough to talk about emissions, now there is a need to talk about climate adaptation, he added.

"We talk about climate change as something that is far distant and difficult to comprehend, but there will be people in this country that will become migrants because of changes to the coast, changes to inland areas, that just simply cannot be protected," said Mr O'Donovan.

Yellow, orange and red status weather warnings were once a rare event but have now become the norm as extreme weather events are becoming more common.

Over the course of the past month, there have been a number of yellow and orange wind and rain warnings issued with many centering on the south and west of the country. Each time a warning is issued, Mr O'Donovan said there are areas of the country that he worries about.

Patrick O'Donovan said: "We talk about climate change as something that is far distant and difficult to comprehend, but there will be people in this country that will become migrants because of changes to the coast, changes to inland areas, that just simply cannot be protected." Picture: Andy Gibson.

"There are places that when I see a weather forecast from Met Éireann with strong southerly winds, with surges, where the land is sodden, which it is at the moment, where rivers are banked, then there are communities all across the south coast that I am particularly worried about, and these are not places of small population density."

Mr O’Donovan said that coastal and inland flooding is “the biggest issue” in Ireland with 20,000 homes protected by the OPW, but there were other homes and schemes waiting longer for assistance.

“That is an unfortunate reality for them, but we have always maintained our commitment to them in trying to deliver what is badly needed infrastructure."

The climate is running faster than our planning process, he said. Things cannot continue this way. Local authorities needed to stop zoning flood plains, which they had done.

“The office of the planning regulator together with the OPW provide information and guidance to local authorities and the regulator then can overturn development plans.” Mr O'Donovan said that those who are delaying the delivery of flood defence schemes need to stop.

Cork is "going around on a merry-go-round of planning", he told RTÉ radio's Morning Ireland.

Really at some stage, someone has to call time on that and allow us to get on with Cork City Council and protect those people because it was a miracle - I'm referring to what is going on since 2009, where it was a miracle that people were not drowned in their beds, and I don't say that lightly.

It is not the first time the minister has hit out at groups in Cork who have taken legal challenges that have delayed flood defence schemes.

Last year, Mr O'Donovan said that while people have the right to object, they needed to face up to the fact that flooding poses a risk to life. If lives were lost in flooding then "somebody would have to be answerable".

“How many more times can we dodge the risk? Our luck will run out and we need to deal with this problem. It can’t be kicked down the road," he said during a visit to Cork city in June 2021.

“The only thing that will mitigate that risk is allowing the State agencies that are charged with delivering flood relief, the OPW together with Cork City Council who have developed a plan for Morrison’s Island, to get on and deliver the flood relief scheme for the city centre.” 

Just last month, the Save Cork City Community Association CLG (SCCA) mounted a Supreme Court bid to have planning permission for certain flood relief works in Cork City overturned.

The group wants the decision by the High Court last year to refuse to strike down the planning permission for the works around Morrison's Island reversed.

However, Pearse Sreenan, counsel for Cork City Council, told the five-judge Supreme Court that the relief works at Morrison’s Island are necessary and a senior planning inspector’s report had shown that 374 properties will benefit from it.

The court has reserved its judgement in this case to a later date.

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