Local elections 2024: Flooding is still among the main concerns in East Cork

Described as a municipal district of vibrant and diverse historical towns and villages, several beaches and woodland areas, with a relaxed, tight-knit feel of the countryside and a hub of commercial activity, high quality restaurants and one of the original and best farmers market in Midleton, East Cork has been hailed by local election candidates as “a gem that is often forgotten about in Ireland”.

Midleton native Rory Cocking, who is running for Fine Gael in this weekend’s local elections, said flooding risk remains a concern for local residents and businesses of East Cork communities of Midleton, Castlemartyr and Mogeely.

“While community spirit is most evident in times of adversity, none more so than last October after Storm Babet, local communities in East Cork remain rightly concerned that flooding will re-occur before the full implementation of proposed flood relief schemes. These schemes need to progress to the planning stage of development as soon as possible,” he said.

Practical measures

Mr Cocking highlighted the importance of putting practical, interim measures with little or no ecological effect such as the installation of earth embankments, removal of riverbed obstructions and routine river flow monitoring in place as soon as possible.

Residents of Moogely were recently assured that the Office of Public Works (OPW) had agreed to fund a nature-based flood protection survey and groundwork in association with Professor Mary Bourke of Trinity College Dublin and that John Slattery of Cork County Council’s Flood and Coastal Department would start work immediately on a suite of interim measures, including a comprehensive hydrology survey of Mogeely.

The residents received the assurance during a recent visit to East Cork by the minister of state with responsibility for the OPW, Kieran O’Donnell, and his department representatives.

Secretary of Gleann Fia Residents Association Vivienne Jeffers, who previously told The Echo of the “dangerous situation” residents of the estate have been facing whereby they are “threatened with flooding with every drop of rain” that falls, welcomed the minister’s visit alongside OPW representatives but said time is of the essence for action.

“Time is of the essence for all the community in Mogeely. While the funding injection from OPW was very welcomed, there is a great need for the proper land surveys to be completed so effective and long-lasting plans can be put in place before the winter,” Ms Jeffers said.

Key Challenge

Social Democrats councillor for East Cork Liam Quaide echoed Mr Cocking’s comments, saying flood management is one of the key challenges for East Cork over the coming years.

“I believe we need to be on a sustained emergency footing with this, similar to the government’s response to the pandemic,” he said.

“The council and OPW are attempting to play catch-up on many years of delay and are now tied into extended time-lines for the delivery of Flood Relief Schemes.” 

Mr Quaide said pursuing a more coordinated and comprehensive flood management plan for East Cork will be his priority.

“The problem is of such a scale and complexity that we need a whole-of-government approach incorporating both natural flood defences and hard engineering solutions,” he said.

“There is no town or village in East Cork that is safe from flood risk. A repeat of October 18, which could happen at any time, would cause a level of devastation that it would be very difficult to recover from. We have international examples of excellent practice in countries such as Holland and the UK to draw from, and this is how we need to proceed, with urgency.”

Mr Quaide and Mr Cocking both said that vacancy and dereliction is one of the biggest challenges facing communities throughout East Cork that must be addressed, as well as a lack of affordable housing and lack of appropriate infrastructure and amenities.

Independent local election candidate for East Cork Eileen Kelly McCarthy said the turnaround of council houses in East Cork is “not efficient” and said dereliction is everywhere in East Cork.

“I have advocated for many years and attempted to follow the process of raising complaints with the relevant authorities,” she said.

“Cork County Council does not have a derelict sites — this was confirmed to me by the local authority. Even over the course of Storm Kathleen we had seen debris fall from many derelict buildings. As homeowners, if we do not pay out local property tax we are refused tax clearance. Why is the dereliction tax not being imposed?”

Dereliction

Born and bred in Youghal, Fine Gael local election candidate Alison Curtin identified high levels of dereliction and vacancy as one of the main issues in Youghal at the moment.

Ms Curtin said she spoke at Fine Gael’s Ard Fheis in Galway back in April about the possibility of avoiding further childcare service closures and reducing the number of derelict and vacant properties by purchasing derelict and vacant properties for lease to a childcare provider.

Speaking about the business community of Youghal, Ms Curtin said business owners deserve adequate financial to them in keeping their business afloat.

“The local businesses in Youghal are martyrs in my opinion, as they have borne the brunt of the lack of footfall but continue to drive on and facilitate the Youghal people,” she said.

“Ideally, the business owners in Youghal deserve financial to help with overheads and to keep them trading. We don’t want to see any more businesses closing down.”

Fine Gael candidate Mr Cocking said the rising cost of doing business has also proved problematic for local businesses both looking to establish and to continue trading. “While s like the Increased Cost of Business grant may offer some respite in the short-term, there have been some calls for further assistance,” he said.

Business s

Independent candidate Eileen Kelly McCarthy also highlighted the importance of increased for local businesses and improved parking/accessibility.

“Businesses are struggling. Our towns and villages are being impacted by a range of issues. We have businesses, who previously would have thrived with tourism, being impacted as a result of lack of hotel accommodation,” she said.

“Continuous increases that businesses have no option but to onto the consumer. In Midleton town, the addition of new bike routes and walkways have been welcomed but there has been no thought into how the town can increase parking availability.

“Our businesses across East Cork are struggling to keep their doors open. We are lucky many were able to reopen after the devastating floods but some have not been able to open their doors again.” 

Owner of Sage restaurant in Midleton town, Kevin Aherne, highlighted the importance of being able to see a finish line for the flood relief plan and dropping the VAT rate back down to 9% from 13.5% — two main asks from businesses in Midleton which he said are needed in order to keep their doors open.

“Physically being able to see a plan in place and a finish line for when it’s [the flood relief scheme] actually going to be completed.

“As a business owner, that’s exactly what you want to see. You want to see a map of how it’s going to pan out and when exactly it’s going to be completed so you can plan for then,” he said.

Speaking about the need for the 9% VAT rate to be reinstated, Mr Aherne said: “Obviously, being a food business, the VAT rate is a big one and that there is a clear, evident plan in place that as a business owner you can do your math clearly and know what’s going to happen future-wise when it comes to the VAT rate, so, rescinding the VAT rate back down to 9% again would be great.

“Obviously, no one is looking for a hand out or a hand up, but a clear structure in place that you can build your business around so you can do your math correctly.”

Healthcare

Identifying other key areas of high priority in East Cork, Independent candidate Eileen Kelly McCarthy said there is an urgent need for investment in mental health s in East Cork, improved access to GP services and cancer s, and dedicated women’s health care facilities.

She said that school places and choice, better school transport, and enhanced facilities for children with additional needs also need to be prioritised.

“In East Cork children attend the school they are lucky enough to get a place in. Simple immediate processes can be put in place immediately to forecast numbers that have not happened,” she said.

“We have children with additional needs unable to secure places in secondary schools. These children are provided with a home tutor in some instances, but fundamentally we have children with additional needs who are not attending school. The state is only legally obliged to ‘provide for an education’ — this does not mean they actually have to find a place for any child in a school.

“We have families, many with no access to private transport, who can not access public transport to get their children to school — they cannot get a bus ticket.”