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Unfair criticism of Met Éireann

Government’s failure to invest in flood defences is the real issue

Letters to the Editor. Illustration: Paul Scott
The Irish Times - Letters to the Editor.
Mon Feb 16 2026 - 05:19 • 1 MIN READ

The recent criticism of Met Éireann regarding the 2.36am warning for Dublin feels like a cynical exercise in shooting the messenger.

​Met Éireann operates in an impossible environment. Recently, these pages were filled with complaints about “alert fatigue”. Now, when a dynamic weather event escalates rapidly, the narrative immediately shifts to attacking the agency for not warning us sooner.

​It is frustrating to see elected officials join this pile-on, using political grandstanding as a convenient smokescreen. The reality is that no amount of warning can compensate for a drainage system that is no longer fit for purpose. ​

These floods are not the result of a failed text alert; they are the result of a failure by successive governments to invest in flood defences. We cannot warn our way out of a flood; we have to build our way out of it. – ​Yours, etc,

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​GUY HANDELMAN,

Ennis road,

Limerick.