Peter Brennan, President of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and managing Director of EPS Consulting writes…

This was Eamon De Valera’s promise when he was Taoiseach nearly 70 years ago.

In the meantime the Shannon has continued to flood, with last year’s incidents a salutary reminder of the power of the river.

The Dublin local authorities want to bring water from the Shannon to meet a projected and significant shortfall in water capacity in the Midlands and the Greater Dublin Region from 2016.

The Shannon Protection Alliance is opposed to the plan. But many of their arguments are not based on evidence. For example, they claim ‘the plan contravenes the EU Water Framework Directive because of lack of consultation and failure to address adverse effects.’ The SPA should read the Strategic Environmental Assessment published in November 2008 which clearly deals with the concerns expressed by local land community groups. There has been significant consultation on this project.

The SPA also claims it has the support of 1 million in opposing the scheme. That is a bit over the top. Has anyone asked the farmers, householders and businesses who are flooded every year if the proposed scheme is a good idea?

‘The plan will spell the end of all planning and development in the towns and villages situated on the Shannon’ is another widely exaggerated claim based on not a scintilla of evidence.

How about the following: ‘…the plan will bring about the swift, total and irreversible demise of tourism, leisure activities, agriculture, and the destruction of the fragile ecology’. More hyperbole.

How about a few facts for a change:

1. Some 1,000 mm of rain falls on the Shannon catchment area every year; a daily average of 2.7mm. Drawing 300 million litres a day (which is the proposal) is the equivalent of 0.02 mm/day: basically equivalent to a normal shower of rain. Source: Met Eireann.
2. The scheme is designed to provide water supplies to the counties of the Midlands, Kildare and Dublin. So it is a scheme to help the East Region of Ireland.
3. The scheme will have to be approved by An Bord Pleanála. This will require a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment to be prepared and will allow all parties ample time to comment and appeal the decision.
4. To take account of seasonal flooding the option of diverting water into bogs at Rochfordbridge/Portarlington is being considered.
5. Ireland’s most pre-eminent climate scientists are forecasting that last year’s flooding will become more commonplace and that there will be less rain fall in the east of the country.

The water that falls onto Ireland does not belong to anyone. It is a national natural resource. Therefore it makes sense in order to sustain jobs and to meet demand from households that that resource flows to where it is most needed in the country.

The SPA needs reassurances. The planning process should address their concerns.

The Midlands and the Greater Dublin Region need water. The planning process will determine how best this can be done in a sustainable manner.

And in words of Phil Fitzpatrick’s song…..where the Shannon waters flow.