Visiting MEP hears of flood fears at Lough Funshinagh
A member of the European Parliament who met with residents affected by flooding at Lough Funshinagh last Friday said European environmental rules had been "abused" by opponents of a pipeline that was designed to resolve the issue.
Fine Gael MEP Colm Markey was making his second visit to the overflowing turlough in South Roscommon, having first visited more than a year ago.
On Friday (February 17) he had a meeting with Roscommon County Council to discuss the situation at Lough Funshinagh, before going on to meet with some of the local residents in Ballagh, Rahara.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Markey said he had been highlighting the Lough Funshinagh case at European Parliament level.
The flood relief pipeline that was being installed in the area was halted as a result of High Court action by the Friends of the Irish Environment group.
It was thought that the need for environmental assessments to be carried out could delay work on a new flood relief project by several years, but Mr Markey said he believed "historic data" could be used in order to speed up the completion of these reports.
"The European Commission have very much said to me that there's no reason why historic data couldn't be used to establish the principles that are at play," he told the Westmeath Independent. "We want to explore that avenue more and, by so doing, speed up the process."
He said there was "a little bit of frustration at European level" that EU regulations around special areas of conservation were getting the blame for stalling the work at Lough Funshinagh, "when the reality is that this is more about how Ireland uses the legislation when it comes from Europe".
In his role in the European Parliament, he said he would be aiming "to bring the voices of the people on the ground over to Europe, about the impact this is having on their lives, their houses, and their farms.
"Most critically, this is about protecting the environment and the current situation is doing everything but protecting the environment," he commented.
"The environmental legislation at European level is being abused by parties for other purposes. That's what we're trying to highlight, and we're trying to bring heads together to try and find a solution.
"I would put the challenge to everybody, including the objectors, to come to the table with a solution rather than a challenge or an objection."
Local councillor Laurence Fallon said the main concern among residents was the slow pace of progress, and he called for greater urgency on behalf of the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Office of Public Works.
"Valuable time is being lost. It's only a matter of time before we lose families (from the area) if we haven't found a solution," said Cllr Fallon.
"We have been extremely lucky this year. We've had one of the driest years on record around here, and still the lake is at least two metres higher than it should be around now.
"The problem isn't going away, and I think everybody is frustrated that, a year on from the court case, we still have no tangible progress made," he said.