Irish Examiner View: Communities need action on flood defences

Ireland is, by any measure, a rich country, and yet we seem bogged down by a terminal inability to get stuff done.

The flooded quays in Graiguenamanagh on the River Barrow. The town in County Kilkenny has seen flooding after the River Barrow burst its banks in the heavy rainfall following Storm Chandra. Picture: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Tell the people of Enniscorthy, or those in Midleton, who have been beset by life-changing flooding which deeply impacted lives and livelihoods — just in the last week in the case of the Wexford town, and in recent years in the Cork town’s instance. Locals have described the flooding events as the worst in a generation.

People in these communities have been awaiting flood relief schemes for unduly lengthy periods, leaving them in an unnatural state of heightened anxiety, in fear of a recurrence. They are not alone, as communities up and down the country live in fear of the next storm and its devastating aftermath.

Tangle netting: Act now on this threat to our sea

Washed-up tangle netting on the Kerry coast. Picture: Pádraic Fogarty

The creation nearly two years ago of Ireland’s first marine national park, Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara, Ciarraí, in the waters around the Dingle Peninsula and the Blasket Islands, was widely applauded as a landmark for environmental protection.

But, despite the praise lavished on the project, it appears that there are still serious issues facing wildlife in the park.

A report from the Marine Institute has highlighted problems created as a result of the practice of ‘tangle netting’ which is prevalent to target the increasingly valuable catch of crayfish.

The practice involves the placing of a weighted ball of monofilament net on the seafloor to catch crayfish, which are currently fetching up to €50 per kg at market.

As there are no limits to the number of crayfish that can be caught and no restrictions on the amount of netting being used, thousands of kilometres of netting are being spread across the Kerry seafloor. Traditionally a local method of fishing, it is now spreading north to Galway and Mayo and east to Wexford and Waterford.

Unfortunately for the crayfish population, it is a remarkably effective way of catching them — but not them alone. The native crayfish population is now suffering greatly, and so too are other marine creatures for whom the nets are an indiscriminate death trap.

In addition, a lost net can become what’s known as a ‘ghost net’ which will take the lives of countless marine inhabitants. These are becoming a serious issue, killing grey seals, angel sharks, stingrays, tope sharks, and flapper skates, among others.

This shameful matter needs to be addressed urgently.