Flooding prompts demand for river maintenance works throughout Leitrim

Calls have been made for maintenance to be carried out on rivers and tributaries leading into a Leitrim lake to address recent flooding.

Cllr Maeve Reynolds called for cleaning and maintenance of the rivers leading into Lough Rinn after recent flooding left several roads impassable following heavy rainfall, affecting residents and causing “prolonged divisions,” she said in her motion.

Cllr Reynolds noted that changing weather conditions are creating a greater need for drainage works, with heavy rainfall overwhelming rivers and drains, while strong winds have also knocked branches into waterways.

The Council can carry out maintenance on prescribed channels under the OPW Arterial Drainage Act 1945. In the Carrick-on-Shannon Municipal District, these include the Rinn and Blackwater, as well as the Eslin and Headford river districts.

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The works are funded from the Council’s annual budget. In 2025, the district carried out drainage maintenance on a section of the Eslin River drainage system and a small section of the Rinn drainage system in the town of Mohill.

Next year, the Headford River has been prioritised, with maintenance works planned for the entire Headford river system.

District engineer Emma Donohoe confirmed that the Rinn river district can be prioritised afterwards, following Cllr Reynolds’ request.

Her motion was supported by a number of councillors. Cllr Cormac Flynn commented that the OPW should be contacted to secure more funding, saying it should be “treble the funding that is being provided for.”

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