THERE was a rush to announce schemes of financial assistance for those affected by the Bantry town floods this week. The swiftness of the ‘rush’ reflected the speed at which the businesses in the town’s square and surrounding streets found themselves engulfed by floodwaters last Saturday afternoon.
This is the fifth major flood event that the town has experienced since 2018. When the inevitable visit of a government minister was hastily arranged for Sunday evening, it was no surprise that some of those affected were still very angry by that point. As one trader put it, they didn’t want to see a minister coming down for the ‘photo opportunity’ – they wanted to see the problem fixed.
The people of Bantry have been very patient. They have seen floods come and go, replaced floors, walls, and expensive products on their shelves, only to have to brace themselves for the next barrage. Calling them ‘resilient’ is almost an insult at this point. They don’t want sympathy, or visitors, they want the long-promised flood relief scheme to be started.
They want to look out their front doors and windows and see large machinery and lots of movement that will lead to permanent solutions – and not primitive sandbags and barriers.
They want to be able to lock up at night and know they won’t face a watery disaster the next morning. They want to be able to listen to the weather forecast without feeling the cold breath of anxiety on their necks when the words ‘rainfall’, ’storm’ or ‘status orange’ are uttered.
They want to know that their products will only need replenishing when they are sold, and not because they are damaged goods. And they want to know that they live in a county – and a country – that values them, and listens to their pleas for help.
Because, up to now, they don’t feel like they are being heard. They have begged, every time they have experienced the devastation of another flood, to have the relief scheme brought forward. They understand Bantry is a special case – it’s a complex location, with sea water interacting with a river, added to the factor of being in a virtual basin with rainfall flowing down from the surrounding hills.
It has long been known that the underground culvert system which runs under the streets and the square is no longer fit for purpose. That makes the flood relief scheme a much more complicated business to implement than similar schemes, which have proven largely effective, in Bandon and Skibbereen.
The Mill River culvert runs from Bantry harbour, under the town square, continues under New Street and Bridge Street and ends at the mill wheel on Bridge Street. It runs under the regional road, the N71, at either end of the square.
But the complexity of the work is no comfort to the businesses affected, time and time again, by the increasing prevalence of heavy rainfall events and Atlantic storms.
We know now that climate change means these events are becoming more frequent and are more intense, than before.
Since Covid, the world has seen how quickly governments can make things happen and bring about major changes to systems in a matter of hours – when the will is there. They can no longer fob the public off with excuses about reports, reviews and ‘complexity’ issues. If we want to get something done in this country, it can be done. And, what’s more, money is certainly not an excuse in the current environment. Government ministers and their on-the-ground disciples were very quick to announce aid, in the form of short-term financial schemes, this week.
Promises of getting the necessary work done were not far behind. But the promise of an election, now looming within weeks, may well be the only thing that actually gets those diggers and excavators on the square in Bantry, in a reasonable timeframe.
The timing couldn’t be better for Bantry. The next few weeks will see politicians pounding the pavements in search of votes and handing out ‘presents’ around every corner. If the people of Bantry want to get those same pavements torn up to make way for a flood scheme that’s fit for purpose, there’s definitely no time like the present, to make their feelings known.
Don’t forget the others
WHILE the flooding in Bantry claimed front page news last weekend, they weren’t the only ones affected by the torrential rainfall last Saturday. Several thousand acres were under water by lunch-time and many homes in rural areas just barely escaped being overwhelmed. Farmers struggled to move livestock and are now counting the cost of damaged lands. They got no visits from ministers, TDs, or senators. But they all have votes.
