'Fear and frustration' at flood fix delays across County Kilkenny

Floodwaters surged to the forefront of discussions in County Hall on Monday as elected representatives made fresh appeals for flood relief schemes to be expedited across multiple districts in Kilkenny.

A perceived lack of progress on the recently announced pilot flood relief schemes in Freshford and Piltown drew particular criticism, as did the ongoing delays for other schemes, particularly in Thomastown and Inistioge.

Cllr Michael McCarthy said that emotions of ‘fear and frustration’ are now ‘all too prevalent’ in Freshford.

The councillor added that when news was announced last May that the village would be amongst the first in the country to pilot a new flood relief scheme delivery model, there was a perception that this would ‘fast forward work’.

“People have to go to bed at night wondering if their homes will be flooded come the morning,” he said.

Cllr Deirdre Cullen then hit out over ongoing delays in implementing flood relief schemes in Thomastown and Inistioge.

Of particular concern to the councillor was the fact that funding has been in place to advance these schemes since 2018, but meaningful work has yet to commence.

This sentiment was echoed by the Cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council, Michael Doyle, who noted the ‘fanfare’ when the funding for the schemes was announced more than five years ago, and the frustrating lack of progress since then.

Responding to the concerns raised by the elected officials was Director of Services at Kilkenny County Council, Tim Butler.

“We have the same concerns as all the members have here but I know that’s of no consolation to the people most impacted,” he said.

“From a national perspective, the Office of Public Works (OPW) is the body responsible for river flooding.

“The OPW have partnered with local authorities to deliver 120 flood schemes throughout Ireland.

“They couldn’t all start at the one time because they wouldn’t have the funding for it and there would not be the expertise so they picked 30 schemes in the areas that were most impacted.

“So, for example, in Graignamanagh, there were up to 120 properties impacted by flooding, and that’s why they were on the first tranche of flood schemes. Ballyhale was selected too because that’s a small scheme.”

Both Thomastown and Inistioge are in the second tranche of flood relief schemes due to be delivered.

Speaking on Freshford and Piltown, Mr Butler said that the recently announced pilot project allows the local authority to get reports done in advance of appointing a consultant (which are currently hard to get).

“It will be 2025 or 2026 at the earliest before a consultant is appointed but we will hopefully have our reports done in advance of that,” he said.

“We understand the frustration but there’s very little else we can do ourselves. We cannot manufacture consultants.”

Independent councillor Eugene McGuinness added to the discussion by noting that the elected officials ‘do not sit in isolation’.

“We have members here from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens, all part of government. So where are our TDs and Oireachtas members? They should know what’s going on.”