A High Court injunction has stalled flood relief works around Lough Funshinagh in Co Roscommon.

A number of homes and over 150ac of farmland have been flooded in recent years around the turlough and, in June, flood relief works began.

Last week, Friends of the Irish Environment (FOIE) lodged the injunction against Roscommon County Council, seeking proof that planning permission and relevant environmental studies for the works had been completed.

FOIE said its actions were not intended to stop flood control measures and leave residents at the mercy of rising water levels.

We ask the residents to understand that it is not that we value birds or plants more than human beings

“They are to ensure that the growing threat of flooding be addressed with the best available scientific advice and on a basis that is fair to all those who face threats to their homes across Ireland as climate change bites.

“We ask the residents to understand that it is not that we value birds or plants more than human beings – we value human beings and all the ecosystems that support us,” FOIE said.

Roscommon County Council confirmed that it has engaged a legal team and said it would work in the community’s “very best interests to vigorously defend the project”.

Farmer reaction

Roscommon IFA chair Jim O’Connor said the flooding situation in the area worsened radically in the last 12 months when water levels surpassed those in living memory.

“Many of the 44 farmers with land adjacent to the Lough had their property threatened and farm payments cut due to rising water levels,” he said.

Padraig Beattie is a sheep farmer in the area who built a new sheep shed last year. He said he is “disgusted” with the injunction.

I’ll have no farmyard if the floodwaters keep rising

“Last winter was my first time to be lambing in the shed. It could be my last now as well. It’s on the borderline of flooding,” he told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“I’ll have no farmyard if the floodwaters keep rising. We might not have a house. The water is 1m higher than it was this time last year. It will probably rise another metre by this winter.”

We want it at a level where wildlife can thrive and people’s houses are safe

Michael Beattie farms sheep, cattle and some tillage in Rahara.

“Nobody has any interest in draining the lake.

“We want it at a level where wildlife can thrive and people’s houses are safe. This whole thing is absurd. I can’t get my head around it. We can’t wait for this to play out in the courts.”