Emergency funding needed to repair Kilkenny's storm-devastated local roads

Roads across county Kilkenny have been left looking like a “war zone” after torrential rain and flooding.

Now, local councillors and TDs are calling for extra, emergency funding to carry out road repairs.

In the Dáil , Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan raised the deteriorating state of Kilkenny roads following the recent severe storms and flooding, calling for immediate and substantial emergency funding from central government.

She described roads across the county as resembling “something out of a warzone,” with pre-existing damage now severely worsened by the extreme weather.

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“We already had scores of roads in poor condition. The brutal weather we’ve experienced has pushed many into a even more dire state. These roads require more than just patch work. We need but for proper repair, resilient materials and modern engineering that are designed to withstand our new climate reality.”

Meanwhile, local councillors have agreed to write to the Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien, to demand a supplementary budget for the Callan Thomastown municipal district to deal with the damage to roads.

Cllr Michael Doyle said that after the severe weather “a huge amount of roads have been left in a dire way.”

“If we have to do repairs out of our current budget there will be no other road works done next year. Government have to allocate emergency road funding. I would hope they see sense.”

Cllr Deirdre Cullen proposed the council write to the Minister for Transport to implement a supplementary budget in the district.
“We never have enough to do what we need to do as it is,” she said.

The proposal was seconded by Cllr Joe Lyons.

In the Dáil, Deputy Drennan highlighted that relentless rainfall and flooding are devastating rural roads, with severe incidents such as collapsing roads and walls on the quays in Thomastown.

She stressed that the block is not a lack of manpower, but a lack of financial resources. “Last week, the Taoiseach witnessed the impact of this damage firsthand in affected areas. Witnessing is not enough. We now need concrete follow-up.

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“It is time for central government to step up and provide Kilkenny County Council with the emergency funding required to fix this extensive damage and support rebuilding our infrastructure to a resilient standard.

“We need a dedicated allocation to enable comprehensive reconstruction, moving beyond short-term fixes to ensure that our roads are future-proofed against increasingly frequent extreme weather events.”