Family won’t be free of flooding threat before 2020

A South Galway house which has been flooded on numerous occasions over the years will have to wait until at least 2020 before it can hope to get any relief even though a scheme to avert the flood risk could be completed for just €15,000.

The family home of Paddy McGlynn’s at Roxboro, outside Loughrea, located 1km off the N66 south of Kilchreest Village, has sustained serious damage whenever water rises at the Owennashree River.

At one stage during the flooding in 2015, waters reached over a foot and a half inside the house.

Houses in areas that are to be examined by consultants investigating the South Galway Flood Relief Scheme will not be eligible for funding to alleviate flooding issues before the project is finalised.

In a letter to Loughrea Independent councillor Pat Hynes, project manager Enda Gallagher confirmed that Roxboro is within the scheme to be considered by the consultants and will therefore not be funded in advance of the consultant’s appointment.

“Any works identified by the consultants will be undertaken as p1art of one large contract,” he stated.

The briefs for the tender documents are currently being prepared to appoint engineering and ecological consultants.

Work on the project is scheduled to being in mid-2020 if no difficulties arise.

Cllr Hynes said the Owenashree River starts in the town land of Raheen Eighter, Kilchreest and flows through the townlands of Roxboro, Caherlinny, Grannagh and other town lands onto the sea.

“This recurring problem has and is causing great hardship to Paddy McGlynn. The flood waters from the nearby Owennashree river flow into his house is causing damage to downstairs rooms entailing replacement of furniture, floor covering and other household goods.”

That action has been estimated to cost €15,000 under an assessment carried out by Galway County Council.

They concluded that the main problem at the location is the narrowing of the Owenshree River downstream from McGlynns house into a bottle neck preventing sufficient water flow downstream during flash floods.

Deforestation has also contributed to the problem at the location with increased runoff from the Slieve Aughty.

Following the 2009 flooding works were carried out on the eastern side of the river but, due to lack of funding, no works were carried on the western side.

The minor works scheme which would solve the problem would involve widening the river bank on the western side by up to 2m keeping the river a constant width of over 5m to prevent a build-up of water

“Immediate action is required to address and rectify this problem,” urged Cllr Hynes.