Funding has been approved to complete drainage works along one of East Clare’s “busiest footpaths”.

An allocation of funding to alleviate flooding issues at Drewsboro in Tuamgraney was successfully applied for by staff within the Killaloe Municipal District. Works are to be completed “this year to remedy the situation,” senior executive engineer, Niamh Madden stated.

Speaking at a recent meeting of the Killaloe MD, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) noted that the request had been “on the agenda for a long time”. He sought additional information on plans for the drainage work, “at present there is constant flooding in the area”.

Over a forty year period, “several attempts” were made to resolve the flooding, Hayes flagged. He recalled that up to €18,000 was previously allocated for drainage improvement at Drewsboro. “Guests at a B&B are regularly splashed with dirty water while out walking. We always talk of it as one of the busiest footpaths in East Clare, walking route to Scariff, Community College there, we have funding, we need need to make a long-term effort to look at it”.

It doesn’t take a flood of rain to cause the issues at Drewsboro, Cllr Joe Cooney (FG) commented. “It is after a small bit of rain that there is a flood of rain. I have seen people splashed with a flood of water while walking on the footpath. Not an easy problem to rectify but something needs to be done”.

Responding to Cllr Hayes’ queries on a timeline, Ms Madden said that discussions with landowners were ongoing “because part of the solution involves drainage”. She added, “We’ve identified the problem, we hope to start as soon as resources become available, it will be in the coming weeks, we’re advancing it and we’re going as fast as we can. We should have a resolution in next month or two”.