Commencement of River Shannon Maintenance Work Long Overdue

IFA President John Bryan has welcomed the beginning of essential maintenance works on part of the River Shannon, at Banagher, Co Offaly by the Office of Public Works (OPW). He said, “This work must be the start of a long-term maintenance programme for the river.”

Mr Bryan, who paid a visit to the site of the works in Meelick/South Banagher on the Offaly/Galway border this morning, said the IFA campaign run in the aftermath of the devastation caused by the flooding in late 2009 had focused on the necessity for these works to be completed to prevent any future flooding.”

John Bryan said, “The persistent failure to maintain our waterways over the last 30 years has created unnecessary hardship for thousands of farm families and rural dwellers. Successive governments have not dealt with this issue and landowners have suffered the consequences of this inertia.”

The IFA Floods Project Team Chairman Michael Silke said, “IFA identified certain remedial works that were urgently required. The work now being carried out is a welcome development and must be extended to other areas.”

Michael Silke pointed out that the ongoing study being carried out by the OPW as part of the Shannon catchment-based Flood Rick Assessment + Management (CFRAMs) must be intensified so that long-term measures are put in place to avoid the threat of future flooding to protect the farmers and residents along the most vulnerable stretch of the river.