Farmers in Co. Donegal have been driving up to 8km in what locals have described as “roundtrips” to get to the other side of a collapsed road for over a month now.
According to Donegal County Council, the road between Tops Farm and Raphoe, L-6244-1, collapsed following “severe flooding” on June 22. The flooding resulted in a partial collapse of a culvert.
One farmer, John Woods described the collapse as “a crater on the road”, which is about 10ft wide.
Woods lives on one side of the collapsed road, with land on the other side. For the last few weeks, he has had to travel about 7km to avoid it.
He said he wants more clarity from the county council on when the obstruction will be fixed and when the road will be reopened for public use.
He already contacted the council and he said that he knows local councillors and TDs were also in touch.
Another farmer in the area has a field of barley ready to be cut, but said that he cannot get over to the field.
Donegal County Council
Donegal county councillor, Frank McBrearty said that the county council was contacted “multiple times”.
He said that in a response, the council stated that there was not enough money to deal with the collapsed road.
“This response is inadequate. The flooding has been going on for decades, and the council should have emergency funding and reserves at hand to deal with this,” Cllr. McBrearty said.
“Residents can’t go to the town on their usual route, farmers are also affected from getting to land nearby.
“If this was in Letterkenny, it would be dealt with straight away. We really are the forgotten part of the country,” Cllr. McBrearty said.
According to another local, Seamus Lafferty, the council began repairs yesterday (Monday, August 28).
In a statement, Donegal County Council told Agriland that due to the depth to the culvert, its replacement will “entail a large civil excavation, design and OPW Section 50 consent under the Arterial Drainage Act”.
At this stage, the council said design options are being examined, therefore it is “premature” to advise when the culvert will be replaced.
“The council is assessing the integrity of the adjacent road sections, from a safety perspective, with view to determining if the road can be opened in advance of the major works.
“A decision in relation to this should be taken in the coming week,” Donegal County Council stated.