Floods return to Galway as storms roll in

TENS of thousands of acres of Galway farmland lie under water this week as farmers and families brace themselves for another weekend of wind and rain.

The Shannon Callows is within ‘one inch’ of potential catastrophe for farmers, according to local farmer Michael Silke, who is also National Chairman of the IFA’s Flood Project Team.

“At the end of the day, the human suffering aspect of what people have gone through in the Shannon Callows area is never factored in by the politicians and I would have to say that OPW Minister, Brian Hayes, has been a total disaster for us.

“This man (Hayes) doesn’t seem to have any grasp of the situation that’s once again unfolding for thousands of householders in the Shannon Callows area – the only words we ever hear are ‘cost benefit analysis’ from the Minister. He is just turning a blind eye to what’s going on,” said Michael Silke.

Michael Silke said that relatively straight forward dredging maintenance work on key bottleneck sections of the Shannon that were silting over, could make a huge difference to absorbing the flood waters that were causing so much hardship.

“If for example, the channel was widened from Shannonbridge to Athlone – a stretch of waterway only about 12 or 13 miles long – the impact would be enormous. This is not rocket science but Ministers sitting in cosy offices in Dublin just don’t tune into this,” said Michael Silke.

Thousands of acres of land are now under water in a large tranche of South Galway through Gort, Peterswell, Ardrahan and Ballinderreen.

Long time campaigner for flood relief in South Galway, Mattie Hallinan, said that what was really heartbreaking for many people, especially in the Ardrahan and Ballinderreen areas, was that there was a ready solution to the flooding problem if channels to the sea were widened and properly maintained.

“It’s every bit as bad – if not worse – than the situation that applied in 2009. Water levels are rising through the week and with more rain on the way this weekend we are really looking at a crisis situation,” said Mattie Hallinan.

Another local flood campaigner, Pat Greene, said that the flood problems in the area had seriously worsened in the past week with several roads flooded, houses under threat and farmyards also at high risk of flooding.

Galway IFA Chairman, Michael Flynn said that farmers in the South and East Galway areas were most under threat as flood waters continued to rise.

“The flood problem has been highlighted year after year with different Governments but nothing seems to happen – it gets bogged down in red tape.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.