FLOOD-DEFENCE SPENDING:AS FARMERS assess the flood damage to livestock, fodder, farm buildings and land, the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) attacked the policy of protecting towns and ignoring rural people.
IFA president Pádraig Walshe said he had a major problem with Minister for the Environment John Gormley spending more money on flood defences for towns.
“What he means here is building walls to prevent water from flooding towns and this water is shoved downstream out on to more farmland and more farmhouses and people living in rural areas,” he said. “It is a waste of money and the reason for this is the lack of money spent on keeping the waterways open for the last 30 or 40 years, as was done every 10 years . . . when we had little or no money.”
Such work, he said, which now could be done much cheaper because of new equipment, would protect not only the countryside but the towns as well.
“But there are a lot of do-gooders out there who object to drainage for a number of reasons,” he said.
“These people should be aware that wildlife, flora and fauna are also affected by excessive flooding. Only those living in the area should have a say in what should be done,” he added. He said four years ago the IFA had agreement with the Office of Public Works to remove silt and overhanging trees from the Shannon system and everyone objected.
“There was a flood in the month of May which washed away birds’ nests and straight away BirdWatch and other organisations came aboard and said the work had to be done and a small bit of it was done,” he said. “But there are still people objecting to taking the silt out of the river which is causing the problem now.” Mr Walshe said there were too many agencies involved in the area and said councils should be given responsibility of maintaining waterways in their own areas.