Hidden flooding Ireland

Lead to water, this article is complementary to Roger’s, widening the context to show there is little unique

On watching Irish matters I see things. The fuss over the north of England flooding etc. is showing the parochial nature of the media, there is just as much trouble in the Irish republic. Official UK maps tend to blank this out.

The Irish Times is in full flood here. Bit of a problem, the dates and the historic incompetence of Westminster government. We administered Ireland.

Badly constructed
He blamed some of the flooding on a weir at Killaloe “erected in 1845” which, he said, was badly constructed and “throws back water for 25 miles”.

He claimed the weir’s “height exceeds that authorised by Act of Parliament”; that it “has no sluices”; and had “insufficient waterway” for the access and escape of water.

Trench said: “The complaint is not that this weir mound was erected, but that it was the only part of the work that was done, and that those parts were left undone that were intended to remedy the obstruction which it caused.”

In an echo of comments heard this week from Ministers regarding delays to flood relief works due to planning objections, Trench noted that some of the remedial works and drainage schemes on the Shannon implemented by the authorities during the 1830s and 1840s had not been carried out properly because of “indifference and objections”.

Trench was one of many Irish landowners who lobbied the [British] government on the subject during the 19th century. Flooding on the Shannon was the subject of frequent debates in the House of Commons and House of Lords in London and various remedial works and drainage schemes were funded.
Cultivation precarious
In 1868 a report by a House of Commons “select committee on drainage and navigation of river Shannon” stated that “the lands along the banks of the Shannon for a distance of 150 miles have been exposed to floods, which render cultivation precarious, impede industry, and by the saturation of many thousands of acres affect the climate of the district through which it flows”.

The MPs noted that “for many years continual remonstrances had been made to successive governments to induce them to take into consideration this state of things, and to provide a remedy”.

However, the select committee concluded that some of the money spent on the remedial works and drainage schemes had been misappropriated, and that the board of works had altered some of the plans without seeking authorisation.
— http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/floods/victorian-images-of-shannon-flooding-come-to-light-1.2462106

There is much more on The Irish Times, I’ll give the link in a moment.

These matters of bad feasance are in the archives including not being able to explain where money went. If anyone wants to put in time I expect a lot can be unearthed.
Extreme weather is new?
http://www.dippam.ac.uk/eppi/documents/14770/page/178440#

The UK media have been waxing about the Lake District flooding, enjoying a good dead horse. Dealing with the horse hauling company, nasty litigious lot, won’t do that. Now troubles have moved to related areas of the north.

As an illustration of how ignoring the wider picture spins things, weather is not selective.

Situation 2009. Image from wikipedia

2015 there was just as severe flooding in Ireland if not in the rain shadow of mountains, Brit Northern Ireland (can see the effect in the above map).

UK Met Office rainfall radar map does also cover Ireland, this was for 25th Dec 2015, the weather commonality is plain. In this case parts of England and Wales received more, was sustained for some time.

I listened to real people broadcast by Irish radio being gently grilled as good presenters unearth useful information. There we have building in bad places, failing to dredge mentioned plenty of times, failing to do many things over many years.

I think a telling one was a lady who told us flooded houses were recent, 1950s onwards, near her family original house but that was not affected.

The Irish Times have a long list of flooding news

Top that page there is a link to Water Charges, the Irish government is trying to get money from the people for water. This has a great deal to do with historic underspending on water infrastructure yet the people paid for the work. Second bite of the cherry. Look too as kickback from EU membership and the fiscal mess the Irish government allowed… once again the common people pay.

Is ever thus, biblically old.

A commonality exists with the UK over belief in AGW and allowed EU madness.
“It is widely anticipated that changes in rainfall patterns and rises in sea levels resulting from climate change may make such flooding incidents more frequent and severe in the future.”
http://www.flooding.ie/ (OPW is the Irish Office of Public Works)

Post by Tim