A Sinn Féin County Councillor has today said that the decision not to grant CFRAMS flood funding to towns in the Finn Valley has left them “bitterly disappointed”.
Cllr Gary Doherty was speaking following yesterday’s announcement by An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar that the first tranche of €257m in funding will see 50 new flood relief schemes proceeding to detailed design and construction phase.
Of these schemes, four will be in Donegal, with Lifford receiving the biggest allocation of €5.9 million.
However, Cllr Doherty says that other communities in the Finn Valley have been left in limbo after being left out of this tranche of funding.
Speaking today Cllr Doherty said “yesterday’s news was bittersweet for the Finn Valley. We were absolutely delighted to hear that Lifford had received almost €6 million in funding, but bitterly disappointed for the communities in Castlefinn and the Twin Towns in particular.
“Just last October, my colleague Pearse Doherty invited Minister Kevin Boxer Moran to Castlefinn where he met with home-owners, business owners and community representatives from Castlefinn, Lifford and the Twin Towns, and he heard first-hand the devastating impact of the two floods which occurred in November and December 2015.
“He was told, in no uncertain terms, that families would lose their homes and businesses would close if they flooded again. I myself made a personal plea to the Minister to listen to our concerns and ensure that these towns would be top of the list when the funding was announced. I told him that the future of our towns and villages depended on him.
“Sadly, it seems that he hasn’t listened to those concerns. Our families, our business owners, our community groups and sporting clubs are left in limbo once again. The uncertainty will carry on, and these people will now face into another winter worrying about the weather, knowing that one more flood could mean the end of their family home or business.
“I simply can’t understand the rationale behind this decision. We have been waiting six years for the CFRAMS funding to be released. There was €430 million allocated to flood defence measures under CFRAMS. Yet, only €257 million in funding was announced yesterday. Why was the rest of the funding not allocated to these major schemes?
“It beggars belief that our communities are left waiting once more.”
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