Flood documentary
on TG4 features Inishowen
13.02.24
THE Inishowen Rivers Trust
(IRT), in collaboration with Dearcán Media, recently
filmed a documentary in Clonmany and Buncrana. Tuilte
(Flood) is airing on TG4 on Wednesday, 21st February, at
9.30pm.
IRT volunteers, Project Officer Trish Murphy, and
previous trustee Tomas Lawrence of the Mill River
Conservation Group, recently took part in filming the
documentary. ‘Tuilte’ highlights recent flooding events
in places like Inishowen, Belfast, Monaghan and Galway,
capturing the human cost and finding out what people are
doing in their local area to address the flooding issue. |
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Discussing Natural Flood
Management with Duncan Stewart of EcoEye. |
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The film looks at how
Inishowen Rivers Trust are using nature-based solutions
to natural flood management as an alternative or
complementary to hard engineering works to slow the flow
of water through river catchments and reduce the impacts
of flooding in local communities. We see volunteers from
the Inishowen Rivers Trust and the Mill River
Conservation Group in action on the Crana River,
building a natural revetment along the riverbank as well
as showcasing the leaky dam natural flood management (NFM)
project in Clonmany. |
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Leaky dam in action during
recent flooding in Clonmany. |
IRT are committed to
assisting the community in Clonmany to avoid future
damaging floods and have partnered with the All-Ireland
Rivers Trust on a new project called Buffer+. This
project will extend the NFM project reach from farmland
further up into the peatlands around Clonmany to help
slow the flow of water. Barry McLaughlin, Peatland
Restoration Project Officer, recently joined the Rivers
Trust to manage Buffer+ and is interested in meeting
with local landowners to discuss opportunities
associated with the project.
In Ireland high intensity, short duration rainfall
events have become the norm as a result of changing
weather patterns. A report issued by the United Nations
in 2021 highlighted the increasing risk of extreme
weather and sea level rise and the need to address these
issues with ambitious action.
The upcoming documentary looks at the impact that
flooding has had on various communities throughout
Ireland and speaks to locals in Inishowen who suffered
loss and damage in the “Night of the Big Flood” in
August 2017. It looks at communities that are attempting
sustainable water management practices to mitigate the
effects of flooding to slow the flow of water when
flooding happens.
Tuilte explores the reality of flooding and climate
change from the perspective of affected communities,
such as Friends of Dromore in Co. Monaghan, volunteers
who are active in flood mitigation efforts and experts,
such as Professor Mary Bourke who is familiar with the
Inishowen area, who share climate change projections and
best methods for combating increased flooding and sea
level rise, including what actions we can each take to
make a difference in our own area. |
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