Ballinhassig builds barrier for flood-stricken homes

Christmas has come early this year for the owners of flood-stricken homes in Ballinhassig. The predominantly elderly residents of eight houses in the area can finally breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that a flood barrier is under construction to safeguard their properties, just in time for the festive season.

As previously reported by the Cork Independent, the homes, which don’t have flood insurance and are in close proximity to the Owenabue River that flows behind them, have been flooded numerous times since 2009, most recently during Storm Babet in October.

Although there has been an allocation of €1.4 million by the OPW for the Ballinhassig Flood Relief Scheme, a recent meeting between the residents, the OPW and the council revealed that the barrier might not be in place until 2025-2026, with no specified start date.

The close knit community of Ballinhassig took matters into their own hands and wasted no time in fundraising for a flood barrier to protect the residents’ homes against future damage. A GoFundMe page was set up in early November and raised €16,000 along with cash donations.

Denis McCarthy, Chairman of the Ballinhassig Village Association, said that they now expect that the barrier will be completed in time for Christmas. “There was no hanging around because it was one of those things that needed to be done yesterday as opposed to tomorrow,” he said.

“Our target was to have to have it done before Christmas, and we are going to hit that target. We are hoping it will take between 7 and 9 days to complete, but the cost will vary on how long he is going to be there and the amount of work that he is going to do.

“We don’t have a cost for the total job but we are very confident that we can cover whatever it’s going to be,” he added.

Denis noted that supporting vulnerable residents in the community from potentially devastating future flooding was an obvious choice, and something everyone wanted to be a part of.

“There were a couple of factors that came into play. Six of the eight houses were pensioners who didn’t have a huge income, and also there was huge local support because everybody knew the people in the houses. So from a fundraising point of view, it was an easy sell,” he said.

“For me, it’s easy for me to enjoy Christmas, when I know my house isn’t going to get flooded. Those eight houses didn’t have that luxury,” he added.

Now, thanks to a community effort, residents will have peace of mind and celebrate a happy Christmas, confident that their homes are protected from flooding, with any surplus going towards the Ballinhassig Parish Emergency Fund.