Dundalk's flooding problem at 'crisis' point as Uisce Éireann's response labelled a 'disgrace'

Recent flooding in Dundalk has been described as a "crisis" by Fianna Fáil councillor Shane McGuinness who warned the problem would be further worsened as house-building continue to ramp up. 

The warning came at February's Dundalk Municipal District meeting where councillors praised council staff for their swift response to widespread flooding. 

However councillors called on Louth County Council to implement a long-term plan to tackle flooding in the town. 

Cllr McGuinness said Dundalk has a "major problem" with flooding and sewage. 

"We can clean gullies from now to doomsday, but if we keep building houses on land, and keep zoning land and building more houses, we have a bigger flood problem," he said. 

The Fianna Fáíl councillor pointed towards house building as a major contributing factor in causing the town to flood so frequently. 

He argued that Louth County Council powers to zone land and grant planning permission, and water from new housing developments and from both Blackwater and Castletown Rivers all end up in Dundalk Bay. 

"It's not just environmental, it's definitely more houses on land that's letting water down through the ground, we’re overloading the Blackwater, (River) we need to look at a master plan for it," he said. 

Green Party councillor Marianne Butler added that while there's no "silver bullet" to solve the problem, a more considered approach to land zoning would help.

"There’s no silver bullet, there’s different solutions. If you were to build the Bay Estate today you would probably say this isn't the best place for houses," she said. 

Council officials acknowledged issues with the Blackwater, saying dredging had been examined and partially carried out last year, but that further works would be “budget dependent”.

Cathaoirleach of Dundalk Municipal District Cllr Robert Nash criticised Uisce Éireann's response to the flooding, saying that raw sewage was coming up through drains in the Bay Estate which experienced significant flooding. 

Cllr Nash said Uisce Éireann's lack of visibility and communication was "an absolute disgrace". 

"Raw sewage was coming up in the bay estate through people's drains. It's not acceptable in 2026. It's not good enough," he said. 

After a question from Fine Gael councillor John Reilly, council officials confirmed that the town's drainage network includes "old infrastructure" which passes raw sewage and wastewater through one pipe.

David Hanratty, Director of Services for Operations and Environment Delivery with Louth County Council said recent weather events have "highlighted weaknesses in our flood management system" and described it as the "perfect storm". 

He said "there is no switch we can turn on, no river we can dredge that will solve the problem", and added it will take a "huge amount of joined-up thing from stakeholders" such as Uisce Éirean and the Office of Public Works (OPW) to find a solution.

Despite concerns, there was widespread praise of Louth County Council's response to the flooding which was described as "incredible" and "hands-on", with specific mention to roads in areas like Ballagan, which Sinn Féin councillor Antóin Watters said was "saved" by the council.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.