Dunkellin drainage to begin at long last

Date Published: 21-Jul-2010

WORK on the Dunkellin River drainage scheme – a project which dates back to the foundation of the State – could at last be about to happen.

Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Martin Mansergh announced on Friday a grant of €3.85 million for works on a six mile stretch of the river from Craughwell to Kilcolgan.

However one of the country’s leading campaigners for the carrying out of essential drainage works – in the wake of last winter’s horrendous flooding – has sounded a ‘health warning’ for the project.

“Yes, I do very much welcome the announcement by Martin Mansergh, but now we must wait and see whether it will be held up by different interest groups like the fisheries groups or the National Parks and Wildlife Service,” said Michael Silke, National Chairman of the IFA’s Flood Project Team.

He warned that the Dunkellin project, which now moves on to the planning stage over the coming weeks, would be ‘a real litmus test’ for flood relief measures in Galway and across the country.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.