This article is from page 14 of the 2014-01-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
THE community spirit continued into Carrigaholt as neighbours worked together to ensure people got to work, school and to the shops.
Local postmaster Pat Gavin, whose family was one of six marooned on a temporary island in Kilcredaun as a result of the storm and sea swells also praised the work of Clare County Council.
“Fair play, Clare County Council have done everything they can given their resources, but central Government have let us down,” he told The Clare People . “Part of what happened was due to neglect, even though I accept some flooding would have occurred,” he said.
The postmaster added he was referring to promises from the Government two and a half years ago that work would be completed at the seawall at Kilcredaun Irish College.
This work was estimated at the time at € 90,000. The sea wall was torn away in the storm and the college flooded as the people living there were segregated from the rest of the county by floodwater.
According to a Clare County Council report this week, restoration and reconstruction work on this part of the peninsula will cost € 622,000.
Mr Gavin said the generous spirit of neighbours, who loaned him a four-wheel drive, means he can now get to the post office every day.
Up to 250 yards off the main road remains under water as just 30 per cent of the water has receded. Clare County Council has put gravel on an old track so that the people living in Kilcredaun can now move around again.
Meanwhile farmers are struggling as their land remains under water. Even when the water recedes, they will have to reseed it in a bid to undo the damage of the seawater.