Local reps call for supports for flooding victims

Local politicians have criticised the government for failing to protect the Northside from recent flooding.

Flooding in Clongriffin on the morning of Friday, February 13, has led to criticism by local politicians about the lack of foresight and warning, and whether insurance for flooding victims is adequate.

On the morning of February 13, heavy rainfall hit the Northside, with the warning being issued at 2:30am.

The warning being issued when people were asleep, and not earlier, was defended by Met Éireann, who contended that the flooding was a result of a fast-moving, unpredictable weather system.

The sudden rainfall dumped nearly half an inch of rainfall on top of already saturated ground, which is recovering from the second-wettest January on record.

Mark Bowe of Met Éireann said it was “a complex and evolving” situation and the call was made to issue the warning overnight.

The warning came too late for Northside residents, however.

Residents of the apartment block beside Father Collins Park saw their car park flooded in the early hours of Friday the 13th.

The flooding took residents of coastal Northside communities by surprise, and local Fianna Fáil TD Tom Brabazon said, “those who have paid their insurance premiums in good faith cannot now be told that flood damage to their vehicles is somehow outside the scope of their cover; these are extraordinary circumstanes and policyholders cannot be left out of pocket.”

The Dublin Bay North TD said, “the Oireachtas has led on insurance reform for many years. It would be an absolute affront to that reform if indemnity is refused in these circumstances.”

“I am calling on insurance companies to confirm without delay that they will fully honour valid insurance policies where vehicles have been damaged by flooding. This is precisely the type of event insurance is there for.”

He said that “residents of Marrsfield, Clongriffin are suffering through no fault of their own. They should not be penalised and refusing to indemnify vehicle owners after a severe weather event would be entirely unacceptable.”

Local Sinn Féin councillor Micheál Mac Donncha said that the situation was “not acceptable” and asked questions of Dublin City Council’s preparedness for the weather event.

Speaking to Northside People, the Donaghmede councillor said he spoke to one of the residents in the apartment block in Clongriffin, where cars were submerged in water.

He noted that the resident was awoken at 10.30pm on Thursday (February 12) by a neighbour telling her the basement car park was flooded. 

“When she went there, it was chaos with people desperately trying to push their cars out of the water. She saw only one person present to assist, a solitary security guard employed by the management company. She saw no one else from the management company that night or the next day, and their only communication with her was by email,” he relayed.

Residents were told that a burst pipe contributed to the flooding, but Mac Donncha noted that when the resident contacted Dublin City Council, they were told the pipe was within the remit of Fignal County Council.

“This is not acceptable. Management companies must take responsibility and do the job for which they charge hefty fees. The resident I spoke to is in a 2-bed apartment paying rent of €2,500 per month.”

He remarked, “we can’t have councils playing pass the parcel,” and said that the geographic disparity between the two Northside councils shouldn’t come at the expense of a flooding victim.

“I am writing to the Minister for Social Protection to extend the Emergency Response Payment to those at a loss in this flooding; I will be raising the questions about the role of management companies and the council’s response,” he said.

Further up the Northside, TDs from Dublin Fingal West Louise O’Reilly and Rob O’Donoghue questioned the government’s preparedness on the issue on Thursday evening (February 19).

Mac Donncha’s party colleague, Louise O’Reilly, said it was a “scandal” that millions of euro has been allocated for a national flood forecasting system, similar to what is seen in mainland Europe, but the system has not been implemented.

The Sinn Féin TD said, “we know rightly that it is a scandal that the millions of euro allocated for the national flood forecasting and warning service over the past eight years remain unspent. That does not make any sense. It does not make any sense to me but it most definitely does not make any sense to people who can tell you that if they have a warning, they will be able to put those systems in place.”

She remarked, “it is very hard to explain to people how the money was allocated and yet, somehow, the department could not find its way to spend it.”

“People might be able to understand if it were a budgetary matter. They might be able to comprehend it if it were a case of insufficient funds allocated, but in regard to the money being allocated and not being spent, that is very hard for me to explain to my constituents when they look at the flood events, and they see they cannot use their roads.”

“I certainly do not try to explain the actions of this government – I am beyond doing that – but when you try to tell constituents who are in flood-impacted areas that, yes, it is possible that a system could have been developed but was not developed, that is very hard for them to stomach.”

Labour TD Rob O’Donoghue said that while Fingal County Council workers worked hard to alleviate the issue, the council workers were “stretched to breaking point.”

O’Donoghue said he contacted a member of staff before 8 a.m. last Friday (13), and council staff were already dealing with multiple flooding issues in the Rush and Lusk area. 

“This is not a reflection on the staff but a chronic lack of resources, funding and support provided to our local authorities. Our council workers are stretched to breaking point, responding to increasingly severe weather events without the staffing, funding or infrastructure required to do the job properly. That situation is not sustainable and must now be addressed at a national level,” he said.

The Labour TD said, “no local authority can be asked to stretch funding thin and still deliver the standard of infrastructure our communities need.”

“They deserve safe roads, reliable infrastructure and a government response that recognises the urgency of this matter.”

O’Donoghue said the affair highlights the government’s lackadaisical approach to climate change.

He said the flooding on the Northside highlights a “serious flaw in how we approach extreme weather.”

“We remain locked in a cycle of crisis management, reacting after the damage is done rather than planning ahead. That approach is no longer fit for purpose.”

He said, “we need to move towards a dedicated national weather and flooding response team tasked with planning, co-ordination and preparedness so that when severe weather hits, a practical and fully resourced policy is already in place and ready to be implemented.

The recent wet weather coincided with the recent lifting of the Dublin Airport passenger cap, which environmental groups warn will put Ireland on a collision course with Europe on its legally binding climate targets and put Ireland further behind in its bid to tackle climate change.

Social Democrats councillor Karl Stanley criticised Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien for raising the passenger cap (see page four for more), and the Clontarf councillor dubbed Minister O’Brien as “nothing more than an environmental vandal, a nihilistic wrecker of our shared future. How dare he speak about decarbonisation? He is absolutely full of it.”

Green councillor Donna Cooney said, “the recent floods in Clontarf have made me very anxious as an elected representative and resident; I am seriously worried about the delay in providing well designed flood defences.”

She said the lack of urgency is of great concern, I requested a completion date for flood defences in the current Dublin City development plan 2022-2028, but the project engineers now give a 2033 date for completion, so that could be pushed even further away.”

The Clontarf councillor warned, “as storms and weather events are becoming more frequent and extreme with the effects of climate change; we need to adapt quicker and be more resilient to these weather events.”

She said “we want the OPW to work with us on implementation of flood defences, even interim measures, raising the sea wall in areas needing most protection, at the promenade by the Alfie Byrne End, where there is no wall, at the Clontarf baths and the section from Vernon Avenue to the wooden bridge.”

“I still hold out hope that we can adapt and be agile in delivering the changes needed to protect our community from both coastal and pluvial flooding. Dublin City Council’s rainscapes project in Harmonstown proved very effective in protecting homes. We need more of these nature-based solutions that are also attractive and effective in protecting our water quality and biodiversity.”

An emergency put forward by Clontarf councillors (Cooney, Stanley, Fianna Fáil councillor Deirdre Heney, Labour councillor Alison Field and Fine Gael councillor Clodagh Ní Mhuiri), at this month’s meeting of Dublin City Council, will see the Clontarf flood defence and promenade joint working group appear at the Mansion House on March 6.

Cooney said, “the OPW and Minister have been invited to attend; I am hoping that we can get agreement for immediate funding, for design works and measures to protect our community. These may be possible as a part 8 or, essential infrastructure to speed up the planning process, we simply cannot wait until 2033, as it will be too late to avert huge damage.”