Flood-hit pub unlikely to open for months
The Townhouse Bar on Quay Lane is one of a handful of businesses still closed in the wake of the ferocious storms which hit after Christmas.
Its roof blew off with the wind, while water poured through the front door in the floods. During the second storm, they managed to keep the floodwaters at bay only for it to seep up through the toilets and sinks.
Owner Neela McPhail says it will be May at the earliest before the venue will be opened again. All the electrics have to be replaced as do the heating and refrigerating systems, sound system, floors and fire proofing, not to mention the roof.
They are putting in flood measures to prevent a repeat of the devastation.
“I’m petrified to put an estimate on it. We’re waiting for the insurance to sign the paperwork. It will certainly be a six figure sum,” she reflected.
The flooding which occurred was a once-in-40-year event. The real issue for residents and businesses in the area is the drainage, Ms McPhail believes.
“My rates cost €500 a week. In October, November and February, you’d be lucky to turn over €2,000 in the week so there’s no possible way of sustaining that cost. People say ‘but you have a great summer’. But eight weeks doesn’t float 52 on those costs,” she remarked.
“We have got very little to no support from the Council. I asked for sandbags before the second flood – I had 40 myself sourced privately and I was told ‘who’s going to fill sandbags at this time?’.
“I had an absolute, complete and utter fit when they turned around and gave us 35 sandbags between five businesses. You pay your bins, you pay to clean up the street, you pay your rates and your water and they don’t even give you sandbags.”
She recalled how the Council responded to her complaints about a smell from the sewerage by sending out a man armed with a one litre bottle of drain cleaner.
When she kicked up a stink, they eventually sent out six engineers at the beginning of last Summer to flush the entire building with smoke bombs in order to see where the leaks were coming from. None of the pipes below the building are sealed.
“I never had a problem with the smell of urine after that. There is an issue with the drainage that needs sorting under this area. The need to drag the river, clean the drains and install underground pumps at the edge of the river and the docks that pump ferociously towards the water to stop it coming in so far.”
Now that she has time on her hands for the first time in years, Ms McPhail decided to turn a negative into a positive.
There are still families across South Galway and in Connemara and Spiddal who cannot return home due to the floods. She has organised a fundraiser for the Red Cross, which is coordinating a relief effort for people most in need, the vast majority of them suffering financial hardship because of being unable to get flood insurance cover.
“The tears are over. I have to think that there are people a lot worse off than us. I understand the stress caused by the storms and floods in a business sense but I have a home to go to at the end of the day. I couldn’t fathom the stress of being out of your home.”
The event takes place at the Rower’s Club in Woodquay on Saturday, March 1. Music by Rachel Sermanni The Voice Squad, Peadar King, Mo Kenny, Mikey & the Scallywags and My Fellow Sponges. All acts will perform acoustically.
There will be a huge array of prizes up for grabs in a raffle, which have been donated by local businesses. Tickets cost €15. Check out Galway Flood Benefit on Facebook.