Horse trainer's stables flooded

A well-known horse trainer in Carrickobrien has had his business wiped out by the flood, even though he lives on high ground which has never before seen water. Tom Cleary, who lives in Ballygowlan, has been left shocked and angry by the mishandled events of the past fortnight along the River Shannon. "My livelihood is destroyed and I might not get it back," he said. "Houses are flooded, roads are washed out. It's 2009 and this is how we're living." Tom said that there was no indication that his land was going to flood almost three weeks ago. Although the council distributed sandbags, they couldn't stop the deluge and Tom watched helplessly as the water wiped out his livelihood in three days. "A week on Friday we had to move out the first lot of horses. By Saturday the water was in the yard and all of the stables. By Sunday it was a foot and a half high. Since then, there's only been a drop of four inches. The walker, the stables, the yard, the gallops - everything is covered. There has never been water in that field and my yard has never been flooded before." Tom fears that his business, which he runs with his son, is facing ruin, as he cannot exercise the horses or take in new ones, while he is also trying to find winter fodder for the animals. "I've ten horses in training, some I had to send back to their owners and I've some horses I own myself. Luckily my neighbours could help by taking them in, but we've nowhere to exercise them, nowhere to train them. My business is completely gone," he said. "I can't take in new horses and if people think I get flooded every year, I won't get any new business." Tom praised the work of the council and the army, who are transporting families to shops and schools, but blames the ESB's management of the river for the flooding. "It's a man-made flood... I put the blame on those controlling the River Shannon. The Shannon needs to be dredged," he said. "There should be one party to control the Shannon completely." He said that there are too many agencies in charge of the river, naming the ESB, Bord na Móna, Waterways Ireland and the Central Fisheries Board, as well as wildlife groups. "They're more interested in protecting the black snail or the kingfisher. They're more important than human life," he said. "In nature, if there's a flood, an animal can move, but we can't move, we're confined to the acres we own." Tom hopes that his land and stables will be water-free in about two weeks time, but only if the water levels continue to drop every day. He will then spend his Christmas carrying out repairs and getting in tonnes of sand to fix up the gallops again. He never had flood insurance and doesn't know how he'll pay for it all. Tom predicts that many ordinary people will be motivated to get more involved in politics or state agencies, if only so that locals have a say in flood management. He also hopes that the government's relief fund will be adequate and that some group or body will admit responsibility for the damage. "There are people worse off than us, my heart goes out to anybody affected by it," he added. "It's going on for years, the Shannon flooding, but this should never have happened."