By Dan Walsh in Enniscorthy
Minister of State for the Office of Public Works (OPW) Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran visited Enniscorthy this afternoon where he met with politicians, engineers, residents and businesses affected by Tuesday’s flooding in the town acknowledged as the worse experienced in three decades.
Minister Moran met a delegation at the Presentation Centre including Minister James Browne, Johnny Mythen TD, Senator Cathal Byrne, Cllrs Barbara-Anne Murphy, Cathaoirleach of Enniscorthy Municipal District, Aidan Browne, John O’Rourke and Jackser Owens, Eddie Taaffe, Chief Executive of Wexford County Council, Eamonn Hore, Director of Services and Jim Casey, Engineer with OPW.
The Minister gave a press conference to local and national media at the Presentation Centre and visited damaged premises on Island Road, such as Tyreworld (Ronan Furlong), M&M Motors (John Leacy) and the home of Michael O’Neill.
It was also learned that tons of goods were destroyed at Dunnes Stores after the flood waters entered the premises. The shop itself wasn’t affected and business continued as usual.
Another Yellow warning for rain will come into effect in County Wexford on Friday morning at 9am, lasting until midnight.
On top of today’s yellow warning for rainfall, and with saturated lands and rivers, this creates a continued high risk for flooding for the Slaney, and particularly Enniscorthy town, right through the bank holiday weekend.
This is an ongoing response situation for Wexford County Council. Teams remain vigilant, monitoring the river gauges to assess potential impacts in the county, and for the recently flood-affected areas. “We remain ready to respond to the ongoing flooding situation as issues may occur,” said Wexford County Council in a statement.
Repair work is still ongoing around the county, to damaged roads, pipes, and manholes. There is a commitment to engage with business owners and residents in the immediate River Slaney catchment in Enniscorthy town.
According to Met Éireann, between 10 and 25mm of rain may fall in the next 24-36 hours. Many rivers, including the Slaney are currently very full, so combined with continued heavy rains and drenched soils, this may create further accumulations of both surface and river water.
There has been an accumulated rainfall of 79.6mm between January 22nd and 28th in the county.
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