The Irish Wildlife Trust has criticised plans to clear vegetation along riverbanks as part of a flood relief plan in Kenmare, saying it could exacerbate the issue.
The issue was highlighted after local senator Mark Daly issued a tweet welcoming the news of some €40,000 in funding.
However, his statement was widely criticised on the social media platform.
Encouraging news this morning as @opwireland has informed me of additional funding for the Finnihy & Keelnagower rivers in #Kenmare
The money will be used to clear vegetation along the river banks pic.twitter.com/LSyRzOFNm1— Senator Mark Daly (@SenatorMarkDaly) February 16, 2021
The Office of Public Works has approved €40,000 in funding for the clearance of vegetation along part of the Kealnagower riverbank and part of the Finnihy River, totalling 1.2 kilometres. (This will consist of 0.6km length of the Kealnagower river bank from the bridge at Aldi to the junction of the Kealnagower and Finnihy River, and 0.6km length of the Finnihy Bridge from behind St Clare’s Convent to the footbridge down stream of Cromwell’s Bridge.)
The OPW says the aim is to reduce flooding in the area in advance of survey work to enable the larger €5.4 million Kenmare Flood Relief Scheme.
Padraic Fogarty of the Irish Wildlife Trust says he appreciates the problems being caused by flooding for people in the area but says the proposed solution could be part of the problem.
The OPW says the clearing is part of the process to promote the area's flood relief scheme while a full environmental assessment will be completed to limit the impact on the ecology of the river.
Senator Mark Daly also responded to criticism of his earlier Tweet.
To clarify my post from this am:
The river bank management along 0.6km of the Finnihy & Keelnagower rivers is 1 measure to help address the serious flooding homes & local businesses in Kenmare have suffered regularly ('08, '15, '20)
This is part of the solution from @opwireland pic.twitter.com/My1z2l5IVn— Senator Mark Daly (@SenatorMarkDaly) February 16, 2021
