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Locals travelling down a street in a boat during the Midleton flood.

More precise flood forecasting system for Ireland delayed due to staffing issues, official says

The secretary general for the department said that the new system will provide more accurate forecasting on flooding.

A NEW MORE precise flood forecasting system for Ireland has been delayed due to difficulties in sourcing expert staff, a Department of Housing official has told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). 

Met Éireann is due to take over flood forecasting from the Office of Public Works (OPW) and will be deploying more advanced systems. 

Recently, flooding in Midleton, Co Cork, saw families and businesses devastated as over 100 properties sustained substantial damage, and properties in other areas across the country. The committee also heard that the repair efforts in the wake of Storm Babet will cost over €100 million. 

Graham Doyle, secretary general of the Department of Housing, which is responsible for Met Éireann funding, said that the new forecasting system is being delayed because it is difficult to procure staff with suitable expertise. 

Doyle said that the delays in bringing in a new forecasting system didn’t, in his view, “affect those recent events”, but said that having an updated system is the goal going forward. 

James O’Connor, a Cork TD, said there is a real need for an early warning system. 

“Someone has to take the responsibility here,” the TD told officials. 

He said that local authorities become “overwhelmed” when flooding events happen on the scale that Midleton faced. 

“These events are going to become more common, and we are poorly equipped to handle them,” O’Connor said. 

Minister Eamon Ryan yesterday said that the devastating floods that hit parts of southern counties during Storm Babet showed that climate change is happening in Ireland. 

Doyle told O’Connor that Met Éireann is taking on flood forecasting, and will be “putting in place a professional approach, and applying best international practice to it”. 

He also disagreed with the TD’s suggestion that Met Éireann had got it “very wrong” by not issuing a Red Weather Warning for the storm. 

Doyle said the highest level of weather warning causes great disruption, especially to schools and transport, and that the worst effects were felt in local areas, and so localised advice is what is needed. 

Met Éireann recently launched its new advanced weather radar system at Shannon Airport, which is also aimed at making forecasting “more precise”. 

The new system provides more accurate rainfall information, and rainfall radar maps. 

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    Mute Brian Dunne
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    Jul 1st 2024, 10:27 AM

    Stevie Nicks, now there is a star.

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    Mute Molly Mal
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    Jul 1st 2024, 5:28 PM

    @Brian Dunne: as she says herself, nowhere near as talented as Taylor.

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    Mute Paul O Connor
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    Jul 1st 2024, 10:17 AM

    Does the Journal sponsor Taylor Swift or something? Half the articles lately are all about her.

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    Mute Sal Paradise
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    Jul 1st 2024, 10:59 AM

    @Paul O Connor: The algorithms are telling them that lots of people are clicking on the articles so they give the people what they want.

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    Mute eoin fitzpatrick
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    Jul 1st 2024, 11:54 AM

    @Paul O Connor: the concerts were quite a big deal, she’s the biggest star in the world right now

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    Mute Alan OConnor
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    Jul 1st 2024, 10:27 AM

    Patted on the head and now we all feel great while she flees with a fortune.

    Will be barely remembered in fifty years.

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    Mute Clare Power
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    Jul 1st 2024, 1:08 PM

    @Alan OConnor: You’re comment won’t be remembered tomorrow..

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    Mute Rochelle Hart
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    Jul 1st 2024, 1:09 PM

    @Alan OConnor: If an artist is even barely remembered in 50 years then they’ve made a huge impact in their career.

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    Mute Magnificent Mongoose
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    Jul 1st 2024, 11:32 AM

    Oooooh celebrities!!!!

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    Mute John Nolan
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    Jul 1st 2024, 3:46 PM

    Some people in this country hate to see people be entertained …I think it’s called begrudgery ?

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    Mute James Hanley
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    Jul 1st 2024, 8:14 PM

    Stevie Nicks, especially with Fleetwood Mac, was a far superior songwriter and singer to Taylor Swift. Swift’s lyrics are vacuous, banal, and formulaic – all appropriate enough for the superficial, dumbed-down age we live in now. But with shrewd marketing, a very mediocre performer can become very rich, as Swift has become. Money, not music, is king in the 21st century!! Now, where is my private jet? !!

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    Mute Alan Kennedy
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    Jul 1st 2024, 12:40 PM

    OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG! I can’t wait for Godspeed You! Black Emperor

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    Mute SerotoninWars
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    Jul 1st 2024, 4:23 PM

    @Alan Kennedy: LOL! Lift Your Skinny Swifts to Heaven! Can’t wait too!

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    Mute Alan Kennedy
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    Jul 1st 2024, 9:11 PM

    @SerotoninWars: They don’t sleep on the beach anymore!

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    Jul 1st 2024, 9:53 PM

    @Alan Kennedy: That whole album is a masterpiece!

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    Mute Alan Kennedy
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    Jul 1st 2024, 11:41 PM

    @SerotoninWars: I’ll never forget the 1st time I seen them, Red Box about 14 years ago? Brilliant night!

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