Irish Examiner View: Ruling has implications beyond ESB

Flooding on Carrigrohane Road and the Lee Fields area in Cork following the heavy rainfall. Picture: Denis Minihane.

Cork city has grown from St Finbar’s sixth-century monastic settlement along the River Lee’s marshlands. Three centuries later, between 915 and 922, Vikings led by Ottir Iarla established a trading centre, Finbar’s refuge evolved as a commercial crossroads. Ever since then, the city has flooded regularly. The very reason for the city’s location — the Lee — exacts a heavy rent. That was particularly high in November 2009. Quay walls were breached, the city centre was swamped. Though no lives were lost, there was significant damage, especially to facilities bizarrely built below street level. One estimate suggests the bill stands at close to €150m. Litigation was inevitable, especially as many of those affected believed the ESB’s management of the Lee dams was the root cause of the catastrophe.

That belief has been tested in three courts and a final Irish judgement has been handed down by the Supreme Court. It found that the ESB was negligent and that the company is liable for some damage at UCC. The university sued for €18m. That ruling has opened the door for nearly 400 other flood litigants whose cases have now been strengthened considerably.