Dunkellin drainage saga at an end after almost 60 years

It was back in May 1960 that the then Minister for Finance James Ryan told South Galway TD Michael Carty that the Dunkellin drainage scheme might take a few years to sort out – but he could scarcely envisaged the few years would turn out to be almost six decades.

Monday finally saw An Bord Pleanala give the green light for the Dunkellin/Aggard Flood Relief Project – a decision not surprisingly described as ‘historic’ by Galway East TD, Ciaran Cannon.

“There’s no going back now. The €6m funding is in place; we now have planning permission and the OPW is ‘ready to go’ with the project,” said Deputy Cannon.

But his confidence wasn’t quite matched by the man who has fought for this scheme for so much of his life.

Tony Morrissey, who spearheaded the Dunkellin drainage campaign through the seventies and eighties, said that while he welcomed the announcement, he would still be holding the ‘St Thomas line’.

“Until the very last bucket of gravel is taken out, I won’t believe that it has happened. But it does seem to be very good news, and long, long overdue,” he said.

But County Galway IFA Chairman, Pat Murphy, said that at long last, the final hurdle had been cleared for a project that would impact positively on the lives of thousands across South Galway.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.