Clonmel is finally a good news story where flooding is concerned. We have our flood defences in place on the basis of a one-in-100-years flood that happened previously. They have stood the test of time over the past ten to 12 years, much to the relief of householders and businesses across the town. However, it took forever to get them. I hope that places like Midleton and Enniscorthy do not have to wait as long or endure more floods before defences are put in place. Clonmel has a history of flooding that dates way. The River Suir consistently flooded both the town and hundreds of homes and businesses from the Old Bridge right along the quays and up to Irishtown. My grandfather Patsy Meaney worked for Clonmel Corporation in the gasworks on the old Waterford Road in Clonmel. He had to go to work by boat from the steps of the town hall during the highest recorded flood in 1925. Fast forward 70 years to 9 February 1995, and his grandson - me - as Mayor of Clonmel, emerged from a successful public meeting called to stop the closure of Kickham Barracks in the town, only to find that I could not get home to the Old Bridge area because of flooding. I had to be transported by the Army in a lorry. I thank the Army for that. It has done tremendous work over the years. The campaign for flood defences started that night, but it took 17 long years - far too long - and involved too much hardship and too much damage to homes and businesses. Clonmel is a template of what can and what must be done. The Office of Public Works must take Clonmel as the template, and must significantly shorten the time it takes to put schemes in place.

Sentiment score: 0.09