Funding will protect flood-prone Co Clare towns

Back in January, Clare received a €1.1m share of a €16.5m national package to help rebuild the worst affected areas and pay the bill for additional emergency services required during the flooding in late 2009.

Now the county is to receive almost half a million Euro in further funding to carry out flood protection work in the hopes of mitigating future problems.

The four schemes to benefit are installation of an overflow flood culvert at the Gort Road Industrial Park in Ennis (€300,000 euro), flood mitigation works at Ranaghan on the Corofin to Tubber road (€90,000 euro), a culvert upgrade in Clonbony (€36,000) and flood mitigation works in Ruan (€90,000).

Clare TD Tony Killeen, also Defence Minister, has welcomed the funding allocations which he said would greatly reduce the risk of flooding in the areas concerned.

He said: “I have received confirmation from Minister of State Dr. Martin Mansergh, TD, Office of Public Works, that significant flood relief works will take place at Ruan, Ennis and Clonbony, near Miltown Malbay.

“This is the first phase of funding to be announced by the Minister of State in 2010. The works that are scheduled to take place will significantly reduce the risk of flooding to properties and land in the areas concerned.”

“Climate change is likely to produce higher rainfall in winter, and therefore to increase the risk of flooding along rivers.

“This increased frequency of intense rainfall events is likely to increase the numbers of floods, as we saw in County Clare late last year, and higher rainfall over winter will also mean increases in the extent of flooding from rising groundwater. The commencement of flood mitigation and flood culvert upgrade works, therefore, takes on added significance.”

Sam Bond