Limerick victims of flash flooding ‘abandoned by heartless government’

THE VICTIMS of flooding in a County Limerick village last month have been “abandoned by government”, believes Senator Joanne Collins

The Sinn Féin representative said the government’s refusal to activate the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme for families in Dromcollogher is “heartless” and “an insult to those who have lost their homes, livelihoods, and peace of mind.”

Ms Collins visited Dromcollogher with party colleague, Padraig Collins (pictured below), to meet with families and small business owners whose homes were damaged by floodwater and sewage, some of whom have now been forced to leave their homes.

“Residents in Dromcollogher have raised the need for the rivers to be dredged, the dykes to be filled in behind properties, and the pressure on the town’s sewage system. They repeatedly raised these concerns with government representatives in the constituency and yet no preventative works were done at the time.

“This didn’t come out of nowhere, the warnings were there. The solutions were known. But the inaction from relevant authorities is now being paid for by ordinary people,” said Ms Collins.

READ MORE: Limerick community left reeling after 'unprecedented' flash flooding

The senator said the families in Dromcollogher are dealing with “absolute devastation”. 

“Many are now having to pay rent to Limerick City and County Council elsewhere while still covering their mortgages. Their homes are uninhabitable due to flood and sewage damage. They’ve lost not just material items, but their sense of security.”

Ms Collins continued: “The reality is that these are real people, real families, whose lives have been destroyed, and now, instead of urgent assistance, they are being told to go through a means test with Social Protection. That is disgraceful. It’s bureaucratic cruelty at a time when what they need is compassion and action,”

She said the people of Dromcollogher have shown incredible resilience, but community effort alone is not enough. 

“The State must step up. It is completely unjust that these families have been left to fend for themselves while the Department of Social Protection refuses to activate a basic emergency scheme designed for exactly this kind of crisis.”

Ms Collins acknowledged the recent work by Limerick City and County Council to dredge the river and thanked the staff involved for responding after the event.

“There are deeper, ongoing issues, particularly the filled-in dykes behind properties and the overwhelmed sewerage system in the town. These must be addressed urgently if we’re serious about protecting families in the future.”

Ms Collins is calling for the immediate activation of the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme for Dromcollogher, a full audit of the town’s sewerage and drainage infrastructure, an investigation into land and water management practices, and lastly “a commitment from all relevant agencies to act on community warnings before, not after, the next flood”.