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Disastrous flooding shows Ireland’s weather warning system needs an overhaul

Response to Israel-Hamas war creates several controversies while Rugby World Cup approaches climax without Ireland

Flooding in Midleton, Co Cork caused by Storm Babet. Photograph: Damien Rytel/PA Wire

Sun Oct 22 2023 - 07:44

The flooding in Co Cork following Storm Babet was one of the main stories of the week, with the town of Midleton particularly badly hit. Widespread damage across the county is expected to cost millions of euro to fix, with some businesses facing repair costs of up to €500,000. Olivia Kelleher was in Midleton during the week and spoke to some shop owners about the impact of the “devastating” floods. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar visited the town on Thursday to offer support and inspect the damage and he met an angry response.

Many were questioning why the flooding was so bad on this occasion with a month’s worth of rain in less than 24 hours. Noel Baker charts the history of floods in the area and the long and often frustrating campaign to develop greater flood defences. Some also questioned why a status red warning wasn’t issued by Met Éireann, and Environment Editor Kevin O’Sullivan looks at whether the forecast warnings for weather events are fit for purpose as our climate becomes ever more volatile. In Saturday’s paper, Alan O’Reilly, the man behind the Carlow Weather X account, also gave his take on the floods.

Israel-Hamas conflict

The situation in Gaza remains dire, with hundreds dying after a strike on a hospital on Tuesday. Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for the incident, with US president Joe Biden telling Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu during a visit to Tel Aviv that “based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you.” Washington Correspondent Martin Wall wrote that Biden’s visit was always going to be a gamble but the explosion at the al-Ahli hospital “undermined the visit even before Air Force One left Washington”.

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Earlier in the week, Fintan O’Toole wrote that “by surrounding itself with stateless people, Israel was making its own existence as a state more and more precarious... All that levelling Gaza will achieve in the longer term is to remind Israel itself that it borders on an abyss. The abyss, as we see time and again, has a way of creeping under every wall constructed to keep it out.”

The EU’s response to the crisis has stoked controversy, with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen under pressure over her expression of unqualified support for Israel’s response to the October 7th Hamas attack, while opting not to make a call for the respect of international law as EU member states had done. More than 800 staff members have written a letter to her warning that the EU is “losing all credibility and the position as a fair, equitable and humanist broker”. President Michael D Higgins also criticised her approach as “thoughtless and even reckless”.

Higgins’s comments created a debate in themselves, with columnist Stephen Collins writing: “If the world was not in such a dangerous place, it might be amusing that the President saw no irony in his criticism of von der Leyen for exceeding her remit when he was doing the very same thing himself; stepping far outside his constitutional role as he has done repeatedly since taking office.”

Web Summit co-founder Paddy Cosgrave also weighed in on the Israel-Hamas war during the week, expressing his views on X, formerly known as Twitter. The fallout from his comments has given the Web Summit a week to forget with several major tech players, and actor Gillian Anderson, pulling out of next month’s event in Lisbon. Cosgrave apologised for his comments but as the controversy continued he eventually resigned this weekend as Web Summit chief executive with “immediate effect”.

Domestically, the Ashling Murphy murder trial began this week, while a broadcaster accused of engaging in sexual acts with a 16-year-old girl over a decade ago was acquitted following a trial at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Meanwhile, David McWilliams is firm in his belief that Dublin Port is in the wrong place. He writes: “If you are saying, ‘Oh here he goes again with his ‘move the port’ idea’, fair enough. However, many years ago I was accused, when it was neither popular nor profitable, of writing too frequently about a coming property crash. In hindsight, the impeding crash was not written about too much and not highlighted enough. It was the right thing to do then and this is the right thing to do now.”

In sport, the fallout from Ireland’s Rugby World Cup exit continues, with Gordon D’Arcy writing that the performance was one Andy Farrell’s side could be proud of. Former Leinster coach Matt Williams writes that “the ultimate heartbreak rests in understanding the truth. You failed. That is where the real pain dwells.” South Africa will meet New Zealand in next week’s final after the Springboks squeezed past England with a late penalty last night.

In personal finance, Cliff Taylor discusses the future of the digital euro and what it might mean for consumers, while Brianna Parkins writes about the benefits of going to a financial planner. In this week’s On the Money newsletter, Conor Pope writes about how credit unions are being empowered to play a bigger role in the lending market. Sign up here to receive the newsletter straight to your inbox every Friday.

This week Corinna Hardgrave reviews the Bramley in Abbeyleix, which she found reflects the local terroir admirably. This month, we launched a revamped version of our monthly Food & Drink newsletter, with exclusive competitions and restaurant offers, plus reviews and answers to reader queries. Sign up here if you’d like to get next month’s edition.

As always, there is much more on irishtimes.com, including rundowns of all the latest movies in our film reviews, tips for the best restaurants in our food section and all the latest in sport. There are plenty more articles exclusively available for Irish Times subscribers here.

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