People in Midleton should not be 'angry going to bed on Christmas night if it's raining', minister says

OPW minister Kevin 'Boxer' Moran says he is to ask council officials to explain issues around the delayed roll-out of a scheme to install flood mitigation barriers in homes destroyed during Storm Babet

Flooding on Main Street Midleton during Storm Babet in October 2023. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

People in East Cork whose homes were destroyed in Storm Babet in October 2023 should not be in a position where they are worrying about flooding over Christmas, the Office of Public Works minister has said.

Kevin 'Boxer' Moran was speaking following renewed calls by residents in Midleton and surrounding villages for Cork County Council to speed up its flood relief measures.

Millions of euro worth of damage was done when severe flooding paralysed homes and businesses for months.

An Oireachtas Committee last month heard Gleann Fia Residents Association secretary Vivienne Jeffers, from Mogeely, call for developers to “stop building on flood plains”.

Other residents’ representatives in villages around Midleton told TDs of their constant frustration and anger at the slow pace of delivery of measures to protect their homes from flooding.

Local TD Liam Quaide rowed with the Taoiseach in the Dáil ​last month as he pressed the Government for a timeline for when flood relief measures would be in place.

Micheál Martin accused the TD of playing “sly games” by suggesting the Government was not taking the issue seriously enough.

The OPW minister told the Irish Examiner he is to ask council officials to explain issues around the delayed roll-out of a scheme to install flood mitigation barriers in homes.

According to the Taoiseach, in a reply to a letter from a residents' representative last month, it is less than 10% completed.

Mr Moran plans to meet council officials “early next year” to discuss progress.

"I don't want people in Midleton to be angry going to bed on Christmas night if it's raining outside. On their frustration and anger, I understand it, but we need to work together.

We can't play politics with water. It affects people mentally, and it affects people as they go to bed at night. I want to ease that pressure.

He said he "wants to see people on the ground" in East Cork.

“It is down to local authorities to drive on flood-related schemes. They are the steerers, but if there are blockages, I need to know. I want to see progress.” 

The main source of concern and anger among residents in Midleton and surrounding villages in East Cork is the delayed roll-out of the Midleton and East Cork Individual Property Protection (IPP) Scheme.

Funded by the OPW, the €5.8m scheme was launched last year to install flood defence barrier systems at front and back doors and low windows of more than 723 homes prone to flooding.

Due to begin in “early 2025”, it is not due to be completed until the middle to next year.

Secretary of Midleton and East Cork Flood Protection Group Caroline Leahy said: “Residents in Midleton and surrounding villages feel they are on their own.

The delays are causing serious mental and physical stress, as we live in houses with nothing tangible to stop water coming back through our doors.

“We feel forgotten and let down.” 

Also of concern to residents is the lack of “clear, concise” information about where people go in the event of a major flooding incident like Storm Babet in 2023.

The council’s flood emergency response plan for Midleton was published in October.

But as well as not knowing where in the town any water-based emergency will be coordinated, residents don't know what the evacuation plans for elderly and disabled people are.

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They also don't know where non-perishable supplies of things like first aid kits, medicines, oxygen supplies, blankets, fresh water and basic foodstuffs are stored.

They have said they also don't know who the wardens or marshalls living in the community are, and who can be called on to be the on-the-ground coordination team.

Cork County Council was asked for comment.