Laois flood rises in 'blink of an eye'

A drainage problem can make a Mountrath area road almost impossible to to drive through during heavy rain in a very short period of time.

So claimed Cllr Conor Bergin, Fine Gael, when he met Laois County council officials recently in Portlaoise.

He tabled a motion calling on the Council address the flooding and drainage issues at Clonard, Mountrath as a matter of priority.

He said there have been problems there for some time but the risks are now higher due to the more frequent heavy rain caused by climate issues.

“Whenever there is heavy rain the road is almost impassable,” he said.

He said the flooding can happen in ‘the blink of an eye’.

Cllr James Kelly, Independent, backed his colleague and commiserated with residents.

“They have suffered a lot,” he said.

Cllr Kelly praised the council’s swift response to clear floods but the problem is a constant on what is a narrow road. He said it would be a tough task to remedy cause of the problem the problem because the farm land is at the same level as the road.

Edmond Kenny, District Engineer, replied to Cllr Bergin.

"An engineer will inspect the existing drainage infrastructure at this location to determine the cause of the flooding and to identify a possible drainage outfall to solve this issue," he said.

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The issue was raised at a recent meeting of the Borris-in-Ossory Mountmellick Municipal District.