This article is from page 1 of the 2014-07-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
OVER four months after Clare County Council applied to the Office of Public Works for funding for remedial works in respect of the extensive storm damage suffered in the county at the turn of the year, the Clare authority are still awaiting a definite answer from the OPW.
Included in the submission was a request for funding of € 12.1m in respect of strengthening coastal protection works, including at Cloughaninchy where property and land were damaged by unprecedented storm surges.
Over the past days residents of Cloughaninchy in West Clare, an area the Council listed as a priority in their submission to the OPW, have made their feelings known to local TDs and councillors about the delay and uncertainty.
However it is still not clear as to when the OPW will issue a response.
According to Fianna Fail TD Timmy Dooley, the residents of Cloughaninchy are just the latest victims of some electoral politics:
“In the immediate aftermath of the storms we had a succession of Government ministers coming down to Clare being photographed with those that had suffered hardship, dangling the promise of funds to repair and strengthen the coastal defences,” Dooley told The Clare People on Monday after meeting with the Cloughaninchy locals.
“Once the local elections were over however the funding has not been forthcoming.
“This was soft talk with no followup delivery.
“Clare County Council can’t print the money needed, they have already carried out the repair work, the Government now needs to make good on the commitments they made to the people of West Clare,” Dooley added.