Coveney steps into political storm on flood visit
A visit by a senior Government Minister to inspect some of the €18 million plus worth of storm damage in Co Galway last weekend has resulted in accusations that only representatives of his own party were informed of his plans.
While the Minister for Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD, was shown some of the sites most affected by the recent storms, outrage has been expressed that only Fine Gael politicians were told in advance about his visit.
The visit was arranged at short notice before the Government agreed to allocate €70m to cover the cost of flood damage across the country on Tuesday – the repair estimate for Co Galway alone is in excess of €18m.
Cllr Seosamh O Cuaig (Independent) said it used to be the “customary thing” to inform all councillors in the area in advance about such visits, but prior knowledge of the tour organised by Deputy Sean Kyne (FG) was only given to FG representatives.
“As chairman of the Connemara group of councillors, I would have thought that the councillors would have been told,” said Cllr O Cuaig. “It now appears that only the Fine Gael Councillors were given word in advance of the Coveney visit.”
The Minister visited the prom at An Spideal, a graveyard in Baile na hAbhann, the causeway at Leitir Mor, a pier and breakwater at Tra Bhain, and a number of roadways in the Roundstone area, where local fishermen and farmers told him about the damage.
Minister Coveney was accompanied by Deputy Kyne, Senator Hildegarde Naughton, and Cllrs Seosamh O Laoi and Eileen Mannion (all FG) during his half day tour of Connemara.
See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.