Wet weather is expected to last for rest of week

Persistent rainfall which has led to flooding in parts of the country and disrupted bank holiday weekend travel services is expected…

Persistent rainfall which has led to flooding in parts of the country and disrupted bank holiday weekend travel services is expected to continue for the rest of the week. The outbreaks of rain, some thundery, are expected to be heaviest in Munster, Leinster and Connacht, with northern parts of Ulster least affected, according to a spokesman for Met Eireann, Mr John Eagleton.

Rainfall levels have been well above average for this time of the year in parts of the south and east.

In the village of Blackwater in Co Wexford, two pubs, a restaurant and a supermarket were flooded after the Blackwater river burst its banks during high tide yesterday.

The village is about a mile from the sea and there were fears last night of repeat flooding today if further heavy rain coincides with high tides.

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Train services between Rosslare and Enniscorthy, in Co Wexford, remain disrupted due to the incident, the worst in the village for about 20 years.

Passengers are being transported by shuttle bus between Rosslare and Enniscorthy.

Valentia, in Co Kerry, has received more than seven times the average rainfall over the past few days.

Almost four inches of rain fell at Cork Airport and Rosslare between midnight on Saturday and 7 p.m. yesterday, with nearly three inches in Shannon and just under two inches in Birr, Co Offaly.

The unseasonally wet conditions are causing harvesting difficulties for the State's 17,500 grain-growers, according to Mr John O'Mahony, chairman of the Irish Farmers' Association's National Grain Committee.

"If August turns out to be a wet month that would have serious consequences for growers because they would be slower to harvest the corn, labour costs would be up, and the yield would be down," he said.

Mr O'Mahony said the wet weather had already damaged some crops and reduced yields. He said the growers' problems had been worsened by the fact that Met Eireann had inaccurately forecast good weekend weather.

Met Eireann said its computer forecast had predicted that the area of low pressure bringing the rain would remain to the south. Instead, the low pressure band shifted around 50 miles north.

A Stena Line ferry carrying 1,300 passengers from Fishguard docked at Dublin yesterday after high winds made docking at Rosslare impossible on Sunday night.

The ferry, slightly damaged when it attempted to dock at Rosslare, is expected to be out of operation for a week while it is repaired. Due to this, Stena Lines cancelled its 9.50 p.m. sailing from Rosslare to Fishguard last night. There were delays on other routes due to weather conditions. Irish Ferries' Rosslare-Pembroke sailing was also delayed last night.

In Limerick city, six bungalows and two pubs in the low-lying Clare Street area were flooded on Sunday evening. Some families moved out of their homes for the second time in a month.

Limerick City Fire Brigade was yesterday continuing to pump the area to keep water levels low.

Limerick County Brigade dealt with flooding at Ballingarry, Abbeyfeale, Rathkeale and Croom.

There was also less extensive flooding in counties Clare and Tipperary. The Shannon and its tributaries had an almost maximum water line on Sunday night.

At Cork Airport, parts of the terminal building were sealed off due to a leaking roof. The building, which was refurbished three years ago, has caused ongoing problems for passengers and staff during wet weather.

Organisers of the Millstreet Music Fair in Cork said they had far fewer visitors than expected. The horse fair in west Cork and racing events at the recently refurbished Cork Racecourse were uninterrupted.

In Co Kerry, high winds brought down trees on a number of roads.

Greyhound racing at Clonmel, Co Tipperary, was cancelled yesterday. Racing fixtures at Leopardstown and Cork were unaffected.