Heavy rains causing flooding in ‘areas of Kilkenny never flooded before’

Areas that never flooded before are now being left under water after heavy rains, the Chairman of Callan Thomastown Municipal District says.

Cllr Matt Doran called for government funding for new and extended flood defences at the recent meeting of the district councillors.

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Describing the flooding in Callan and Thomastown, last November, as “severe,” Cllr Doran appealed for sympathy from the Department of the Environment to “remedy those areas that are severely flooded when we get heavy rain.”
He said central funds for the work are needed rather than trying to find it from the council’s own funds.

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Area Engineer, Declan Murphy, said that funding is available under Climate Action grants and there is a specific grant for drainage work, but apart from that there is “nothing extra.”
He said it is not yet known if there will be any increase in those grants this year.

“It is widely accepted that we are getting heavier rain now,” Cllr Doran said. “When it comes there are areas flooding that never did.”

Last November, following flooding in several areas of the county, a Kilkenny Council meeting saw consensus across party lines on the need for urgency of flood relief works in the county. The flooding was described as ‘devastating’ for those whose homes were affected.