By Emma Ryan
PEOPLE of Raphoe and Castlefin are “living on the edge” during periods of heavy rain as concerns remain over flooding.
It comes as heavy rain battered the county last week as Storm Agnes brought torrential rain and strong winds.
In July, residents in East Donegal had their homes and businesses destroyed due to floods caused by torrential rain.
In one area of Raphoe, the road collapsed and caused a crater estimated to be 15ft deep on one side of the road.
This road has since been repaired but Cllr Liam Doherty has called on the council to seek further funding support for repair of further roads which were left in disrepair and in dangerous condition.
He said local residents are still “living on edge” constantly worrying about the weather and the lack of prevention measures is having a detrimental impact on them.
“There is a man’s yard in bad shape and it is a danger to the children, while there is also pipework problems.
“The last evening there was a downpour again and there was people out worrying about their homes and businesses.
“One man owns a business and he sits monitoring the weather himself. He has cancelled holidays because if he isn’t there during flooding, his business would be gone.
“Many of the businesses cannot get in insurance now either,” said Cllr Doherty.
Cllr Doherty’s motion at last week’s meeting of Donegal County Council was seconded by Cllr Gary Doherty who said many roads in Glenties, Inishowen and Letterkenny were affected by the July flooding event but East Donegal was particularly impacted.
He called on Office of Public Works (OPW) to release funding for the repair works.
“It is incumbent that OPW release funding for projects which can be carried out to repair some of the damage.
“People are worrying about the weather and it is not fair.
“In Liscooley, the Magheraboy Bridge is simply not fit for purpose and another period of bad weather could be determental to it.
“We are waiting on the funding to be released but we do not have a date for it yet,” said Cllr Doherty.
A council representative said collaboration with OPW is continuing in relation to a number of allocations including Raphoe. The Council will write to OPW to reflect the concerns of the elected members.
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