Council admits Midleton's flood defences won't be finished until mid-2026

On what is now the second anniversary of Storm Babet, Cork County Council said 60% of the barriers needed have been delivered to homes

Midleton during the flooding from Storm Babet in October 2023. Photo: Guileen Coast Guard unit

Cork County Council has admitted it won't complete the installation of flood mitigation measures in Midleton and surrounding areas until the middle of next year.

The council announced its Midleton and East Cork Individual Property Protection (IPP) Scheme in October 2024, and said delivery of the scheme would begin in early 2025.

The then minister of state with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), Kieran O’Donnell, announced €5.8m in funding to the council for the installation of flood barriers to 920 homeowners and businesses impacted by Storm Babet in 2023.

On what is now the second anniversary of the storm which devastated the East Cork town, the council has said 60% of the barriers needed have been delivered to homes.

A spokesperson said: “Taking account of the available delivery capacity in the marketplace and the requirement for builders’ work at a number of properties, the projected completion date for this project is mid-2026.” 

Asked to explain the delays in providing homes with barriers, and fitting them, they added: “The scale of this Individual Property Protection (IPP) scheme vastly exceeds that of any similar scheme delivered in Ireland previously.

“The market response for both supply of barriers and works contractors interested in undertaking the type of work required has been challenging to date."

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

The spokesperson said the IPP scheme will provide interim flood mitigation to 723 properties in Midleton and the wider East Cork area, including Rathcormac.

Speaking on the second anniversary of Storm Babet that devastated the East Cork town in 2023, Midleton and East Cork Flood Protection Group’s Caroline Leahy said: “They should never have been given the responsibility to oversee the delivery of individual flood mitigation measures to houses.

“It should have been handled (by Government) centrally, or residents themselves should have just been able to apply for grants so they could have got the work done themselves.”