Dread in Clonmel persists despite success of flood relief measures

For decades, the words “heavy rainfall”, “Clonmel” and “flooding” were frequently heard, followed by television images of inundated homes, damaged shops and locals left exhausted and hopeless.

The last time the Tipperary town suffered serious damage from the river Suir was in November 2009, while two years ago a long-promised €40 million flood relief scheme was completed.

Today the townspeople can rest more easily but the memories of the fear caused by rising water remains, said Clonmel Chamber of Commerce chief executive Brian Cleary.

“There’s an awful sense of dread for people when they’re wondering if the water is going to come over the river wall and destroy their home or their business,” he said.

In the past, the rainfall of the last few days would have had business people and residents in the town up all night with worry or sluicing flood water out of their properties and throwing ruined furniture and equipment into bins.

“It has made a world of difference,” Mr Cleary said on Monday. “Look at the last week we’ve had, particularly Saturday and Sunday and this afternoon, people would have been looking out their window saying: ‘Oh God, I’m going to have to get ready for this.’”

Alison Cronin, who runs a dance studio in Old Bridge, lives in one of those parts of Clonmel that were regularly inundated by floods. "There was one time I had put a new wooden floor down," she said. "It was still on credit and hadn't been paid for. I put it down on the Monday and the following week it was floating. It literally lifted and was floating around," she said.

Describing the “awful sense of dread” as a flood approached, Ms Cronin said: “We used to have to go to the Army barracks and try and get sandbags and bring them up.

The installation of the flood barriers, including a moveable glass bridge over the river close to her premises, hit Ms Cronin’s business hard for about two years.

Customer numbers fell when traffic was restricted from getting into the Old Bridge area but now, she said, it seems to be working: “The week that we’ve had, I would have been in and out continuously.

“I would have had to have everything moved and lifted everything up. I would have been very uneasy over the last week but this time it hasn’t even cost me a thought.”