City is ready to meet the challenge of the heavy rainfalls declares council

By Kernan Andrews

Galway has escaped the worst of the floods because of the “Trojan work” of Galway City Council staff in tackling all most vulnerable areas of the city over the last week.

This is the view of the Galway City Council’s director of services for transportation and infrastructure Ciarán Hayes, who said that that work is continuing to ensure the city stays largely flood free.

City council has a crew involved on a constant basis dealing with the tens of thousands of gullies and drains in the system throughout the city.

Mr Hayes was also responding to criticism of the local authority from councillors Catherine Connolly and Pádraig Conneely.

Last week Independent Cllr Connolly said the flooding caused by the recent heavy rains “once again highlighted the inadequacy” of the drains in Galway and she accused the council of having “no policy” on maintaining the city’s drains.

This week Fine Gael councillor Pádraig Conneely accused the council of “not having any emergency flooding plan in place” to protect the city, saying it was still operating a “man, shovel, and wheelbarrow system”.

However Mr Hayes has defended the council against the charges. He said Galway has escaped the worst of the heavy rains and flooding because of “the work of Galway City Council staff on the ground”.

“The staff have done Trojan work over the last number of days and weeks at unblocking drains and looking after vulnerable areas,” he told the Galway Advertiser. “We have been able to cope with the severe weather because council staff have been out in all kinds of weather at all hours of the day and night jetting gullies and clearing drains.”

On Wednesday water levels appeared to drop and a number of roads were opened in the eastern part of the county, leading to cautious hopes that the worst may be over. However Met Éireann has warned that heavy showers are likely over the weekend and early next week with even snow and frost likely as temperatures are set to plummet.

As a result Mr Hayes said the council will continue to clear drains on an on-going basis and monitor the situation closely so as to be able to respond to any emergency which may arise.

A recent statement from City Hall added: “In anticipation of further heavy rain, Galway City Council will continue to put arrangements in place to deal with the venerable areas and will continue to liaise with the business community in order deal with the issues provoked by the bad weather in so far as possible.”

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