Councillor Doherty says Castlefin Flood Relief Scheme must be fast-tracked

Councillor Gary Doherty says a fast-tracking of the Castlefin Flood Relief Scheme following the weekend flooding in the town and surrounding areas is a necessity.

Sinn Féin Cllr Doherty described Saturday as a “nightmare” due to the torrential rainfall - which was measured as 62.1mm - and stressed there will be disastrous consequences if the relief scheme for the town, which has been ongoing since 2020 and due to be ready for 2025, is not brought forward.

“Yesterday (Saturday) was a nightmare day,” Cllr Doherty posted. “We had a month's worth of rain in one day according to a measurement taken by one local farmer yesterday evening. I tried my best to answer all calls, messages, emails, and WhatsApps which were coming in thick and fast. 

“Apologies to anyone I may have missed but I was doing my best. As much as possible we tried to get emergency services and sandbags to where they were needed most."

Locals in the area were thanked for their volunteer work in the testing conditions.

“A massive, massive thank you and well done to all the volunteers from the community who were out at a number of locations pumping water, preparing sandbags and diverting traffic from the many dangerous lakes which appeared on the roads,” Cllr Doherty added.

“The Castlefin Flood Relief Scheme was awarded almost €2 million and work has been ongoing since late 2020 to identify and design a scheme to protect all areas of Castlefin from flooding. This project will be ready to apply for planning permission in the coming weeks and will hopefully be the final solution in solving the flooding issues in Castlefin. Construction of the major scheme is scheduled to be ready for 2025.

“Given the repeated instances of flooding on the N15 outside McGlynn's Restaurant, I have demanded that a portion of the scheme is fast-tracked as I firmly believe this section cannot wait any longer as to do so would have disastrous consequences for properties in that area. This section can't be left waiting, it needs action now.”