Castlefinn has been hit with more flooding this afternoon ahead of storm Jocelyn.
The flooding occurred at the junction close to McGlynn’s Restaurant, which is the main N15 road from Ballybofey to Lifford road.
Fire Service personnel have been working in the area since 11am this morning. There is currently a stop/ go traffic management in place and it is expected that two way traffic flow will resume this evening, Donegal County Council has said.
It’s the second time this week that the area has been heavily impacted by flooding. Sunday night also saw the road blocked by flooding during Storm Isha.
Meanwhile, the town is awaiting the development of a flood relief scheme by the Office of Public Works and Donegal County Council.
Seamus McGlynn of McGlynn’s Restaurant said he’s tired of waiting as his business suffers.
He told Donegal Daily: “We should have pulled the pin today, customers could just get in the side door but the water blocked everyone from parking.”
On Sunday last, the restaurant also closed early due to rising flood waters. “We would have closed for the red warning but this was before the storm even arrived,” Seamus said.
The flooding has been recurring since Seamus can remember.
“This should have been rectified 20 or 30 years ago. It used to be a small flood across the road, but the pipe is not big enough to take the water away now.”
His frustration lies with a lack of progress on the €2 million scheme for Castlefinn, which was first announced in 2018. It is currently envisaged that construction of the scheme will begin in 2025. There have been repeated calls for work at the McGlynn’s junction to be fast-tracked as severe weather events increase in regularity.
“It’s all red tape, the money is set aside but it seems that every time you speak to someone it’s pushed back another six months or year. They need to just do it,” Seamus said.
“Look at the amount we’ve spent on rates and tax over the years, and we can’t even open our doors for flood water outside. Hospitality is a hard enough struggle. We can’t get insurance after the 2015 flood that they called a once in 100 year flood. That is irrelevant, we are under threat all the time.”
