Two families have been forced to evacuate their homes in recent days near Curraghboy village in Roscommon due to serious flooding.
One mother with a young baby had to leave her home due to the flooding at Lough Funshinagh.
The evacuations were confirmed in a post on the Lough Funshinagh Flood Crisis Facebook Page: “It is with huge regret that we inform you that last evening two homes had to be evacuated. In one instance a mother with a very young baby was asked to pack her belongings and in the other case access to the house became too dangerous,” said the social media post.
The post added: “Eight years ago we highlighted this issue with the authorities and were completely ignored. We were told the lake was in the “natural occurring range’. Today the lake continues to destroy lives and livelihood and cause major disruption on our local and regional roads as well as a total destruction of a beautiful natural habitat. Our thoughts are with the families asked to leave the area.”
A diversion route on the N-63, R-357, R-363 has been put in place and the council warned that there “may be an increased likelihood of delays on these roads as a consequence”, the Roscommon Herald reports.
There are now three roads locally closed due to flooding from Lough Funshinagh.
In the Dáil on Thursday night, Roscommon’s three TDs raised the issue with the Tánaiste.
“An emergency order can be issued by Government for a temporary measure to get the water moving which will work until a permanent solution is found. That has the backing of the National Parks and Wildlife Service,” Independent Ireland TD Michael Fitzmaurice said. “It has the backing of every politician around the place. I am asking the Tánaiste to do this next Tuesday or sooner if he can.”
Speaking in the Dáil, Tánaiste Micheál Martin agreed that the situation was intolerable for those living in the area, and that “emergency works should be allowed to prevent any village from being flooded”.
“I would argue anywhere that the protection of people’s lives and homes should trump any other consideration. That is my view and I would be prepared to go into court and fight that,” the Tánaiste said.
“I will talk to the Minister for the Environment about whether we can give support to Roscommon County Council to ensure it has a robust position to advance. That may happen in the context of a new engineering solution because that could also face legal action,” he said.
