A Donegal county councillor has demanded that part of the funding for the Castlefin Flood Relief Scheme be fast-tracked to prevent a repeat of last night’s disaster.
Councillor Gary Doherty described the weather and experience of people in East Donegal as a “nightmare.”
He said “Yesterday was a nightmare day. We had a months 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.
“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.”
Councillor Doherty referred to the Castlefin Flood Relief Scheme which was awarded almost €2 million with work ongoing since late 2020 to identify and design a scheme to protect all areas of Castlefin from flooding.
However, Councillor Doherty said one section of the scheme needs to be addressed urgently in the border village.
He said “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.”
