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Bantry flooding fears: ‘People are stressed every time there is a weather warning’

The most recent flood in the west Cork town happened at low tide, making locals fearful of what might occur in similar conditions at high tide

Water gushing out of manhole covers during flooding in Bantry town. Photograph: Andy Gibson
Water gushing out of manhole covers during flooding in Bantry town. Photograph: Andy Gibson
Barry Roche's picture
Barry Roche
Sat Oct 12 2024 - 06:00

“We will be like Venice by then if this keeps going,” said then Bantry Business Association chairman Diarmuid Murphy after the town flooded in October 2020, as he contemplated the possibility that a big flood relief scheme might not start for several years.

Four years on, Murphy’s ominous warning doesn’t look far-fetched, as Bantry attempts to recover from last weekend’s inundation. Some 42 properties were affected, among them those flooded to depths of up to a half a metre.

Last Saturday’s flood is the town’s sixth since 2020 and its ninth since 2012. Its location in a basin, surrounded by hills and open to the sea, makes it particularly vulnerable when heavy rains race down the hillside and meet a high tide and a southerly wind.

[ Bantry floods: Minister pledges to speed up culvert works ]

Except last Saturday there was no high tide. The rains swelled the Mill, the Abbey and the Scart rivers to the point that they overflowed the entrance into the culvert that channels them under the town to the sea, flooding New Street and Main Street.

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Few locals would dispute Cork South West Fianna Fáil TD Christopher O’Sullivan’s assertion in Dáil Éireann in 2021 that “Bantry is the most flooded town in Ireland”. All question why it is taking so long for a full flood relief scheme to be built.

In a briefing document from May of this year, the Office of Public Works (OPW) confirmed that the first stage, which is scheme development and design, will be completed by the end of the first half of 2025. This will be followed by four other stages, which will include an environmental assessment and contractor procurement.

The OPW said construction was scheduled to start in early 2029. Experienced observers believe it will take at least 18 months to two years to build the scheme, which is designed to protect 200 properties.

[ Cork floods: Clean-up operation after 65mm of rain recorded in some areas ]

Meanwhile, interim measures such as non-return valves and pumps on the street are being proposed, while the bigger immediate measure of upgrading the culvert system, with Cork County Council taking the lead, is where most Bantry folk are placing their hope.

According to a report prepared by engineers Malachy Walsh & Partners in 2018, more than 500m of the town’s 950m of culverts were “in urgent need of repair”. Cork County Council has confirmed work will start in mid-2026 and take 18 months to complete.

According to Danielle Delaney of Bantry Business Association, traders are extremely concerned with the fact that this latest flood happened at low tide, making people even more worried about what would happen if similar levels of rainfall were to happen at high tide.

“This was our first flood of the season, and we have a long winter to go, and people are stressed every time there is a weather warning. We need the culvert upgrade to start soon – it’s going to be disruptive, but we need it for the sanity of the town.”