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TD calls for bogs to be flooded to 'save communities'

Bord na Móna has said the plan wouldn’t work.

DENIS NAUGHTEN HAS called on the National Emergency Coordination Group to direct Bord Na Móna to let its bogs in the midlands flood to ease the pressure of mounting flood waters.

“Over the next three days we are expected to see a further 60mm of rainfall much of which will eventually end up in the River Shannon, with potentially devastating consequences on homes and whole communities.

“At the same time Bord Na Móna continues to keep its pumps running to prevent commercial bog land from flooding. This now needs to be urgently reviewed,” the independent TD for Roscommon–South Leitrim said, noting that the organisation has tens of thousands of acres of bog land within the Shannon basin.

A similar proposal was put to the government in 2012 by the Oireachtas environment committee.

A spokesperson for Bord na Móna said Naughten’s plan “just wouldn’t work” and “wouldn’t make any difference to the overall scale of the problem”.

It needs proper consideration, needs to be properly engineered and needs to be part of a long-term solution.

Met Éireann has issued three separate weather warnings today, as Storm Frank approaches Ireland. Areas along the River Shannon are currently on flood watch as the river is expected to rise by a further 10cm by this Wednesday.

Read: “The country is saturated”: Safety warnings as Storm Frank gets ready to hit Ireland

Read: Man in his 70s dies in Westmeath crash

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64 Comments
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    Mute Adele Sheehan
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    Dec 25th 2017, 10:21 AM

    Oh God, hope they’re okay

    335
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    Mute Leitrim303
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    Dec 25th 2017, 6:50 PM

    @Adele Sheehan: how can be ok when they are bodies. RIP

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    Mute John O'Shea
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    Dec 25th 2017, 7:04 PM

    @Leitrim303: the comment was made 9 hours ago you simpleton.

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    Mute Dlow Brown
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    Dec 25th 2017, 7:17 PM

    @Leitrim303: well done Leitrim.

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    Mute The Red Devil
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    Dec 25th 2017, 11:21 AM

    Christmas is not always a happy time for people please spare a thought for those…….and for the emergency services who are away from their families dealing with whatever comes at them
    Hopefully not as bad as it sounds this story

    295
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    Mute Penney Mortimer
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    Dec 25th 2017, 2:17 PM

    The rainfall yesterday in this area was horrendous . Roads and bridges treacherous when rainfall high. My thoughts are with the families today . And I don’t think anyone should be passing comment on whether there was drinking or not . It’s really none of our business and we need to take into account that at some stage family and friends may read this post and we need to respect their feelings .

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    Mute Mark Murphy
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    Dec 25th 2017, 12:11 PM

    God love them. There is no right or wrong here. Prayers for the family especially on today’s date

    217
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    Mute OU812
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    Dec 25th 2017, 1:30 PM

    @Mark Murphy: there absolutely is right and wrong.

    But let’s wait for the facts to emerge rather than assume what happened.

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    Mute Mark Murphy
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    Dec 25th 2017, 6:13 PM

    @OU812: what a stupid comment

    58
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    Mute Veronica
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    Dec 25th 2017, 3:09 PM

    Oh god absolutely awful. Devastating news for their families.

    I really appreciate our rescue services, they truly are selfless.

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    Mute Dean Burroughs
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    Dec 25th 2017, 11:40 PM

    @Veronica: selfless… It’s their job. Id say professional certainly not selfless.

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    Mute Ben Dunne
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    Dec 26th 2017, 11:19 AM

    @Dean Burroughs:
    Bit more than being professional,most of us don’t risk getting killed helping others. I used to take them for granted until Rescue 116 crashed, used to watch it fly over my house several times a day without a second thought and now I can’t help having tremendous respect for people in that field.

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    Mute Tosh Lavery
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    Dec 25th 2017, 5:01 PM

    Sad, may they Rest In Peace, and the Family’s find the strength to deal with this tragedy

    97
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    Mute Arthur Pewty
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    Dec 25th 2017, 5:29 PM

    Rest in peace young men. My sympathies to all families involved. x

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    Mute Finnster
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    Dec 25th 2017, 2:59 PM

    This is terrible news for these poor families. So tragic , it can happen so easy

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    Mute vero
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    Dec 25th 2017, 12:41 PM

    Please god they will be ok, horrible news at any time of year but worse for the day thats in it

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    Mute patrickmansfield
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    Dec 25th 2017, 6:15 PM

    Prayers to the family and friends of both men,very sad news to get on Christmas morning

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    Mute helen walsh
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    Dec 25th 2017, 1:33 PM

    There was a lot of fog and bad weather, hope they are found alive. Young men are invincible, hope they hadn’t been drinking. Terrible for the families.

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    Mute Alan Chapman
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    Dec 25th 2017, 2:19 PM

    @helen walsh: I think you meant , young men think they’re invincible. Terrible tragedy at any time of year but especially the day that’s in it . Our thoughts also with all the search and rescue services involved in this.

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    Mute Mark Jasper
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    Dec 25th 2017, 9:32 PM

    Well done to my fellow colleagues in search and rescue for a quick and unfortunate recovery today.

    R.I.P. to the two men

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    Mute Siobhan Rosemary
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    Dec 25th 2017, 7:46 PM

    Shocking

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    Mute Michael O'Neill
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    Dec 25th 2017, 11:54 PM

    RIP very sad.

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