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Tag Archives: opw

Severe weather update

The National Co-ordination Group for Severe Weather Emergencies has met to assess the current weather forecast and flood threats. The group will meet again shortly to review the situation. Met Éireann has issued a series of severe weather warnings for the weekend. Extremely heavy and prolonged rainfall is forecast for West, Mid-West and North West regions on Friday night and all through Saturday. Met Éireann has issued a number of severe weather warnings for the weekend. A RED rainfall warning has been issued for Connacht, Donegal, Clare and Kerry, with accumulations in excess of 70mm expected (valid Friday from 6pm until Sunday at 3am. These levels of rainfall are expected to give rise to local flooding, possibly severe, in some areas and which may block roads and affect transport infrastructure. A level ORANGE rainfall warning is in operation for Cavan, Clare, Cork and Limerick (valid Friday from 9pm until Sunday at 3am), and high winds are expected across the country with a level ORANGE wind warning is in operation for Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and …

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Minister Harris visits Clare

Junior Minister Simon Harris will visit Clare later today to meet local representatives to discuss flood and local heritage issues. He will visit Quilty at 1.45pm to hear of and speak with people whose property was destroyed by the floods of January and February, 2014. Later in the afternoon, at 4.30pm, he will travel to Mooghaun Hillfort in Newmarket-on-Fergus to view developments at the site. Mr Harris, the youngest member of the current Dáil, is the Minister of State at the Departments of Finance PER and Taoiseach with Special Responsibility for the OPW, Public Procurement, and International Banking (incl IFSC).

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Frustrated farmer could lose 30 acres

A Ballynacally farmer has expressed his frustration at the lack of progress in repairing the Shannon Estuary banks along 30 acres of his land in Lisheen. Vincent O’Shea, who farms up to 120 acres, has been unable to cut silage on the affected land and has had to sell 30 cows. The land was badly flooded more than 12 months ago and he says that no progress has been made in the interim with regard to alleviating the problem. Two neighbouring farmers, John Slattery and Seán Carrig, are similarly affected. “The two sluices went in January of 2014. There is no one coming near us. They are saying they are doing this and doing that. Pat Breen (TD) reckons the council have the money but you ring the council and they say they have no more there for this. They have money for the tourists going to Lahinch and Kilkee but that’s no good to me. I can’t do any …

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OPW funding for flood risk studies

There has been confirmation that the OPW has approved funding for coastal erosion and flood risk management studies for Kilbaha and New Quay. “Following representations, I was pleased to be informed by the Minister of State, with responsibility for the OPW, Simon Harris that the OPW has agreed in principle to provide funding to Clare County Council to undertake these studies in Kilbaha and New Quay,” local TD Pat Breen. “I understand that Aughinish may also be included in the scope of the New Quay Study,” he added in welcoming the initiative. “Kilbaha was very badly affected by the storms last year when the sea wall was very badly undermined and 150 metres of the regional road was completely removed. Extensive clean up and remedial works were carried out at the time by Clare County Council. Funding was provided from the Department of the Environment to assist the local authority with these repairs. In addition, €18,000 was provided by the …

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IFA meets minister on storm damage

An IFA delegation, led by President Eddie Downey and Clare chairman, Andrew Dundas, met with the Minister of State for the OPW, Simon Harris on Wednesday  to press for the repair of embankments damaged in the severe storms of early 2014. IFA has secured a commitment from Minister Harris that he will move this issue on over the coming weeks so that the necessary works can commence. Eddie Downey told the minister that farmers’ lands have been damaged and that the repairs of embankments are necessary to get the land back into production. The delegation told the minister that delays are intolerable and it is not acceptable that there is nobody making a firm decision on the issue. The OPW should take responsibility to ensure that farmers and properties are protected and should instruct Clare County Council that support will be forthcoming through the various schemes under the OPW’s control. Clare IFA chairman, Andrew Dundas said there is huge frustration …

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Grave need for cemetery sites

THE parish of Dysart and Ruan is appealing for sites for use as graveyards, as the existing cemeteries in both villages fill up. Parish priest, Fr Pat O’Neill, said new burial grounds are needed and is calling on people to make land available for them. He said that people can still be buried in family graves but that there are very few new plots available. “I think there is only another grave or two in the graveyard in Ruan, so if there are a few new graves required shortly, we could be in trouble,” he said. Fr O’Neill stated that suitable sites are needed quickly. “Going to Kyle or Drumcliffe, or Corofin is not acceptable. People should be able to be buried in their own place. One of the things I would say is that any old graveyard is not an archaeological site. They are living places. They are for the living and for the dead and I don’t think …

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Clonahinchy omitted from flood relief list

CLOHANINCHY Action Group chairman, Michael Neenan, has reacted with frustration to news that Minster of State Simon Harris detailed €390m of an Estimates Allocation on behalf of the Office of Public Works (OPW) on Tuesday, which contained no mention of areas in Clare, including Clohaninchy near Quilty, which is in need of a permanent coastal defensive structure. The Clohaninchy Action Group is due to meet with Minister Harris in Leinster House on Wednesday next. “This allocation reaffirms the commitment of the Government and I to tackling the problem of flooding throughout the country, despite very difficult decisions made in many expenditure areas,” Minister Harris said in his statement. “A total of €225 million has been set aside for capital flood risk management and mitigation expenditure in the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Medium Term Exchequer Framework for the period 2012-2016. This annual allocation of €45m has enabled the OPW, in conjunction with its local authority partners, to address both existing and …

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Putting our national monuments in the picture

The world’s biggest photography competition, Wiki Loves Monuments, is taking place in Ireland for the first time this year. Officially launched this Tuesday by Wikimedia Ireland and Minister Simon Harris , the Wiki Loves Monuments photographic competition takes place from now up to September 30. Organised by Wikimedia, the movement behind free encyclopaedia Wikipedia, the competition aims to raise awareness of Ireland’s national monuments and create a crowd-sourced bank of quality photos that will be free to use for education. Amateur and professional photographers are being invited to photograph the national monuments in their locality and upload their photos to www.wikilovesmonuments.ie. Entries will be judged by a four-person expert panel and the winners will be announced on Friday, October 31. The project is being supported by The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, National Heritage Week, The Heritage Council of Ireland, The Office of Public Works, Open Knowledge Ireland and Dimension Data. Certified by Guinness World Records as the …

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