Flood barriers are to be constructed along the banks of the River Dodder, which caused widespread devastation when it burst its banks earlier this year.
The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, whose Dublin south-east constituency bore the brunt of last February's flash floods, has secured €1.6 million in Government funding to build a sheet metal safety barrier along the Dodder, it was announced yesterday.
Work on the project, which will stretch between Ringsend Bridge and Londonbridge Road, is expected to begin within weeks, following a "fast- track" tendering process. In the meantime a temporary barrier will be erected. A spokesman for the Minister said he had pushed for the construction of a flood protection system since returning to the Dáil.
Denying that the announcement was timed to coincide with next week's Nice referendum, the spokesman said Mr McDowell feared lives could be lost if the Dodder continued to burst its banks.
Residents welcomed the news, saying it was long overdue. Mr Damien Cassidy, a spokesman for the Ringsend-Irishtown Flood Distress Committee, said the clean-up operation after last February's deluge had cost locals more than €20 million.