Inaction on flood defence scheme sees hundreds protest in Midleton
An aerial view of flooding in Midleton during Storm Babet in October 2023. Picture: Guileen Coast Guard unit.
Close to 500 people attended a protest organised by a flood protection group in Midleton, Co Cork, to highlight what they describe as “the lack of any meaningful protections” given to the community since Storm Babet devastated the area in 2023.
Extreme rainfall in Midleton and other parts of east Cork on October 17-18, 2023, led to the mass flooding of many houses and businesses.
The force of the deluge caused the front window of a hairdressing salon in Midleton to shatter, whilst flooding was five feet deep in some places.
The flooding event caused up to €200m worth of damage to businesses and homes in the town.
Members of the Midleton and East Cork Flood Protection Group say they are still years away from full protection against flooding across East Cork.
Spokesperson for the group, Mona Stromsoe, said they feel just as vulnerable to flooding as they were in 2023.
“We were expecting the flood defence scheme for Midleton to go to planning at the end of September," she said.
"As recently as July, we were told it was on track to go to planning at the end of September.
"That didn’t happen, and we were told by the minister [for OPW, Kevin 'Boxer' Moran] that it wouldn’t happen until the end of Quarter 4.
"This is the fourth date we have had. What people may not realise is there was a scheme in planning for the Midleton flood protection scheme since 2014. The first flood risk assessment was done in 2012.
"Fourteen years on, and there hasn’t been a shovel in the ground. A completion date of 2032 is now what we are being told by the council. That date has been pushed out twice since Storm Babet alone.”
Ms Stromsoe says people previously impacted by flooding in East Cork remain fearful of a repeat episode, especially during winter.
“People think: ‘Is today the day?’. We saw in Killarney during the summer that it was just one day of rain, and they were flooded.
"People are afraid it will happen again, and it will be as bad as Babet."
The protest took place at the weekend in Midleton and involved groups of people from the town as well as areas such as Mogeely, Killeagh, and Castlemartyr.
Earlier this month, Mr Moran announced €1.1m in funding for East Cork to introduce interim and flood mitigation measures in Mogeely, Castlemarty, Ratchcormac, and Ballintubber.
He said the announcement was part of an overall €14m allocation to Midleton and East Cork to address and mitigate the flood risk in the region.
He said a further €5.8m investment is enabling advance works in Tir Cluain, Midleton, to proceed to construction from spring next year. These works aim to protect 135 properties.
The minister said that Cork County Council is due to receive the final engineering and environmental assessment documents for the overall flood defence scheme from its consultants this month.
He said this will allow the council to make a planning application for the Midleton flood relief scheme, to protect 750 properties, to An Coimisiún Pleanála at the end of the year.
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