This article is from page 4 of the 2006-12-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
THE ARMY are to be called in to deal with future flooding problems in Clonlara. Defence Minister Willie O’Dea has pledged he will call out the troops if the River Shannon breaches its banks again.
Residents spent days doing battle with the might of the river to keep it out of their homes last week. Many, including a 77-year-old woman, a heavily pregnant woman and a family of six had to be evacuated.
Today, Springfield woman Nora Mason (77) is back in her home but her daughter, Geraldine Quinlivan, said she is “a prisoner because of the stones and sandbags we have had to keep heaped at her door. We can’t risk taking them away and she can’t get out because she walks with a Zimmerframe.”
An angry Geraldine told how her mother’s home “would have been ruined but for the efforts of my husband, brothers and sons who were down there until 5am on Friday morning, fighting to keep the river out of my mother’s house.”
The ESB have come under fire for the timing and way in which water was released through the Parteen Weir and Ardnacrusha dams, but a spokesman for the company said it was necessary because of the heavy rainfall bringing extra flows of water into Lough Derg.
“The water was being let down for days before this. There has to be better management and better communication about this,” said Geraldine.
Local Councillor Cathal Crowe had a meeting with Minster Willie O’Dea and he has “given assurances that he will use the army to assist residents if this happens again”.
In the meantime, the Fianna Fail councillor wants the river dredged at strategic points and he is “asking for the road to be repaired where part of it was washed away”.
Cllr Paschal Fitzgerald also wants to see the river tackled and cleaned, a move which local people have demanded.
“It’s not good enough for Minister Tom Parlon to tell people they have to live with it. The river needs to be cleaned and people here are rightly angry about this. Who is going to pay for the clean-up where septic tanks have overflowed into people’s gardens and what about the damage to the road?”
And while the flood waters have receded, the residents say their anger is not going to drain away.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil Senator Brendan Daly believes that had a bill introduced to the Dáil years ago got the go-ahead, Clonlara may not now be under water.
“Several years ago, I introduced a Private Members’ Bill to establish a Shannon river council, the purpose of which would be to bring together the various organisations with responsibility in this complex area. The Commissioners of Public Works, fisheries, Bord na Móna and a range of environmental bodies have an interest in this issue,” he said.
The west Clare senator was critical of the delay in the various bodies coming together to respond to the flooding issue. He said the meeting on Thursday last was “a bit late in the day.”