IFA Says Shannon Cframs Flooding Report Ignores Concerns of Farmers and Rural Dwellers

IFA Flood Project Chairman Padraic Joyce has said that the recently published CFRAMS Flood Risk Management Plan for the River Shannon and surrounding areas ignores the plight of farmers and rural dwellers who have suffered enormously from recent flood events.

At a meeting in Longford with Independent TD Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran, who will assume responsibility for the OPW from current Minister Sean Canney during 2017, Padraig Joyce, along with IFA representatives from the Longford and Leitrim areas, made it very clear that farmers are being ignored at the expense of specific towns and villages.

Padraig Joyce also pointed out that works that were proposed are in danger of not proceeding due to objection from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). It is up to the Government to ensure that the public good overrides all other considerations. The protection of households, farmland and businesses must be to the forefront of all works. In addition, the protection of livelihoods must be a key consideration in the CFRAM process. IFA also raised the serious concerns of farmers still affected by flooding in Turloughs in Roscommon and Longford.

The IFA Flood Project Chairman also pointed out to Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran that the Draft Shannon CFRAM also falls spectacularly short as there is no proposal for a single agency to manage the river. Farmers are worried that eight months on from the serious floods of last winter, very little work has taken place under the OPW’s Minor Works Scheme.