OPW engineer rules out moving Clarecastle barrage

CALLS for the removal of the existing flood protection barrage at Clarecastle to Latoon have been rejected by one of the top Office of Public Works (OPW) engineers Michael Collins.

Ennis Town Councillor, Johnny Flynn recalled one of the options put before a town council meeting in October 2007 was moving the Clarecastle barrage down to Latoon at an estimated cost of €32 million.
Councillor Flynn said he supported this option at the meeting, which was supported by former Ennis Town Coucillor, Tom Glynn, who didn’t secure re-election.
Councillor Flynn told The Clare Champion, he still believed that this proposal should be considered as one of the long-term solution to combat flooding in the town.
Councillor Tony Mulqueen, whose house in Cappahard was under two feet of water last Thursday, also supports moving the barrage.
Following a debate at the town council meeting in 2007, it was decided to accept option four to upgrade the existing tidal  barrage at Clarecastle and N 18 bridge.
However, assistant OPW chief engineer for the southern part of the country, Michael Collins, has dismissed this proposal as a credible long-term solution to minimising flooding in Ennis and its environs.
In an interview with The Clare Champion, Mr Collins recalled the OPW would have looked at this proposal as a possible solution when they were designing the Flood Protection Works in Ennis.
“I can’t put it any better than the professor from University College Galway who was on the project and stated that even if there was an abyss in Clarecastle, Ennis would flood.
“The main problem is Ennis is the capacity of the channel through the town is not big enough to take the water. If there was a waterfall in Clarecastle, you still would have flooding in  Ennis once the water levels exceed the walls.
“We did look into moving the barrage and decided there was no point in doing this. It would not help the situation. Without the barrage, Ennis would flood more frequently. Ennis has been subjected to tidal floods,” he said.
Asked about the amount of building in flood plains around Ennis, Mr Collins noted that planning was a matter for the local authorities and added there were now planning guidelines to deal with this issue.
“Planning is a matter for the local authority. If your house is flooded, planning guidelines are too late for you,” he added.
Asked about future flood protection works, Mr Collins confirmed that the OPW hoped to be able to go to tender with Phase Two of the Ennis Flood Relief Works in a few weeks, hoped to start work next spring subject to funding and noted it would take about 18 months to complete this job.
“When Phase Two of the Ennis Flood Relief is completed, we hope that the scale of flooding would not be as big. Our scheme when completed was designed to deal with a one-in-100-year flood and one of a slightly greater magnitude that the latest one.
“There is a science to deduce what is a 100-year record even considering the short number of records. We constantly review of Flood Relief plans when we have an event, try to learn lessons and put in improvements.
“In the emergency area, OPW engineers have a subsidiary role and are under the direction of the lead agency, which is the local authority,” he said.