Floods; from once a century to once a decade?

hi pat, i am a firefighter in limerick. for the past 2 weeks while this flooding has been going on we have not laid a hand on a sandbag or a pump because limerick is not co-operating with claire over the boundary extention and we are not allowed to assist places in danger that are 5 mins drive from our base. its typical of the petty political squabbling that goes on during a chrisis in this county while the ordinary person is left in misery.

Posted by sean on November 30, 2009 at 11:47 PM GMT #

I thought Gormley was superior and evasive on several issues 1. The fact that the Greens opposed river drainage in order to protect fish - the fish are dead now. 2. The lack of central government support for emergency/rescue works 3. He refused to say who would drain the water out of Sallins 4. Padraig Walsh was right - all the Greens want is flood walls in urban areas and the farmers can be sacrificed. The Greens think rural Ireland is something for tourists to look at and not somewhere anyone should actually live and work.

Posted by Queenie on December 01, 2009 at 12:00 AM GMT #

Thought the way John Gormley was treated on the show tonight was a disgrace.He was constantly attacked and interrupted and much of it seemed to be coordinated by Fine Gael members.The Irish people voted for Fianna Fail and Fine Gael and these are the parties who rezoned land for building on flood plains,how ironic that the only party who opposed these rezonings,the Green party,will probably be decimated at the next election.This is just another result of the greed that overcame us all in the boom but especially the politicians and developers,not to mention the farmers who sold the land and who knew more than anyone of the flooding dangers.The so called planners are the biggest disgrace of all

Posted by sean o reilly on December 01, 2009 at 12:01 AM GMT #

I would just like to know is it possible to create man made flood plains by redirecting parts of our rivers in certain areas and possibly creating more lakes which could then act as overflow basins in times of heavy precipitation? If such ideas as these would work I'm sure the goverment would buy land in order to use for this. These are just some ideas but I think the show lacked in people trying to come up with solutions and focused too much on blaming some of those who may have been responsible. I'd also like to give my sympathies to those affected as I saw f the damage in sallins when driving through.

Posted by peter b on December 01, 2009 at 12:15 AM GMT #

Flooding is and always has been a big exposure. That is why so much money has been spent in Holland, not only because of the sea but also the melting of ice and snow in the Alps which comes down the Rhine and other rivers! The reality in Ireland is that the population of Ireland is too small to deal with all the "disasters" that it is facing (partly created by greed from everybody casuing too high debts, including credit card debt for individuals) and EU aid should be asked for. With regard the flooding Ireland needs to call in experts from abroad to deal with the problems as everything is now made a party political issue here, which was never the case in Holland. The Crown Prince of The Netherlands is a Water Management expert and he should be asked to assist here in Ireland and use the Dutch experience as well as get funds from the EU.

Posted by Arie van der Veken on December 01, 2009 at 12:21 AM GMT #

I am very disappointed that farmers were given so much airtime on Frontline to clamour for new drainage schemes on what is left of our rivers. What happened in the 60's MUST never happen again. Beautiful rivers such as the Boyne and the Moy and countless others where turned into lifeless canals simply to turn third-rate land into second-rate land. For what purpose? Apart from a brief period in the 70's farming never made any money. At present farmers who have the best of land are losing money hand over fist. Without the cheque in the post, most would be out of business. So all that money spent on drainage was a complete waste of time and money and simply defaced and scared a pristine natural environment forever. Now the farmers are bellowing like their hungry cattle that now inhabit the newly formed islands of the river Shannon for more money to do the same thing all over again. They want to try to conquer and control nature, to try and tame the MIGHTY Shannon. That is an insult to this great waterway and all who attempt to do so will fail. The water will ALWAYS find a way to win. Drainage schemes carried out at the behest of farmers turned once beautiful fast flowing, fish filled rivers into miserable slow flowing drains. To add insult to injury the dredged spoil still remains on the banks in unsightly mounds. MANY MANY people cried over this destruction and still the lesson has not been learned. Drainage is not the answer. The water in a river that meanders actually moves faster than water in a straight drain. This is because a bend in a river creates a Vortex which speeds up the natural flow. Most farmers have turned their backs on nature and many have no idea of the names of the plants and animals that surround them. They sit in their huge tractors oblivious to everything around them. The same applies to modern Irish people. Our ancestors never built on the floods plains. They observed and respected nature. We have lost touch with the natural world and this has cost us dear. If you turn your back on something it will bite you in the ass and that is just what the Shannon has done. The more you drain the bigger the bite. Draining wetlands and bogs etc allows much more water to enter the river system quickly. Bord na Mona has drained VAST areas of peat bog. This peat was able to absorb massive amounts of rain during the winter and release it during the summer. (Very useful in a dry summer). Deforestation also has the same effect. This natural system has been destroyed for short-term profit and at a huge cost to our wildlife. It has also silted up the Shannon so perhaps this silt should be removed in a sensitive manner. Farmer’s calls for widespread drainage MUST be ignored. This cannot be allowed to happen again.

Posted by Justin Murphy on December 01, 2009 at 01:16 AM GMT #