THE torrential downpours of early October – which delivered three inches of rainfall to the Clifden area – brought real fears of another flooding catastrophe, similar to the events of September 2020, local councillors outlined last week.

Conamara councillors at their area meeting last Friday in County Hall urged the OPW [Office of Public Works], and all other relevant authorities, to advance, ‘as a matter of urgency’, the Clifden Flood Relief Scheme.

“After the heavy rains on the Thursday and Friday [Storm Amy] of October 2 and 3 last, people felt under awful pressure and fear that there would a recurrence of the flooding that occurred in September, 2020,” said local councillor, Eileen Mannion [FG].

She added that people’s lives were being put on hold as things could change so fast in a flood situation, something which was impacting on the mental health of those living in the high-risk parts of the town.

“The proposed Clifden Flood Relief Scheme has been going for the past four years, going back to 2021, and yet we still seem to be a long way off  in terms of any timescale for the project,” said Cllr. Mannion.

Galway County Council Executive Engineer, Brendan McDonagh, told the Conamara Area councillors that the OPW had completed their review of ‘the final options report’ on the project and were now considering the next steps for the Clifden Flood Relief Scheme.

He outlined that the flood relief measures would be based on the favoured option of linear defences [usually concrete walls to prevent a river bursting its banks] which had been recommended by consultant engineers, Jacobs Engineering Ireland.

The Council had been provided with €530,000 worth of funding in doing preparatory work for the scheme with the appointment of the consultant engineers, while the construction costs in relation to the provision of the linear defences were estimated at €5 million.

Mr. McDonagh’s report outlined that the OPW had been informed that the Galway County Council report on the scheme, Stage 1, had been substantially completed – the only remaining item was the second public information day.

He also said that the timelines for the different stages of the scheme may have been under-estimated but added that the more engagement taking place ahead of the scheme, the less chance there would be of any objections.

“Galway County Council will continue to engage with the OPW regarding the viability of a flood relief scheme given the cost-benefit ratio of the linear defence option being proposed by the designers,” the Executive Engineer’s report stated.

Cathaoirleach of the Conamara Area councillors, Gerry King [FF], said it was now clear that of the flood defence options examined, the only practical solution was the linear defences along the river [the Owenglin].

Conamara Area Director of Services, Uinsinn Finn, said the Council would keep ‘pushing the scheme to move it forward’ with both local councillors and the Council’s area team working very hard to progress the project.

“The rainfall of last Thursday and Friday [October 2 and 3], showed the real impact that this kind of weather event can have for  Clifden.

“Climate change is happening  and these types of weather events will be occurring more frequently over the coming years – however we [Galway Co. Council] are constrained in what we can do due to environmental designations,” said Uinsinn Finn.

Flash flooding in Clifden on the Wednesday morning of September 2, 2020, caused hundreds of thousands of euros worth of damage to at least 17 houses in the town, with many of them having to be evacuated.

Schools had to be closed and other properties were damaged in what was described at the time as a very localised torrential downpour which led to the Owenglin River bursting its banks and flooding parts of the town.

The worst flooded parts of Clifden then were the Clifden Glen estate, adjacent to the Owenglin River, as well as the Riverside and Lower Road areas.

Pictured: Flashback…Patrick Guy (front), and neighbour Michael O’Halloran, at his house at Riverside beside the Owenglen River in 2020, as water pours down the waterfall after the earlier flooding. The entrance driveway beside Patrick’s house was also completely destroyed by the flooding four years earlier. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.