14,000 people have to check the tides before getting off Great Island

Cobh based Cork County Councillor Cathal Rasmussen has today called for work to be carried out on the Belvelly road to prevent flooding cutting off Cobh and the Great Island from access to the mainland as happened last week again today.

Commenting on recent weather and high tides that cut the Island off, which is in effect the largest populated Island in the Country, Councillor Rasmussen said “The reality at the moment in Cobh is that residents have to check the tides at certain times before attempting to travel in or out of Cobh. Last week I was inundated with calls from concerned residents in relation to the issue of being marooned in Cobh during this period of high tides and bad weather.

“The issue of the Fota road has been highlighted for many years with little success, however the current situation on the Cobh side of the Belvelly Bridge has raised more serious questions. There are in the region of 15,000 vehicles using this road daily, and it’s one of the busiest roads in the county and as I have stated one has to check the tides to ensure that the road is not cut off.

”At present the existing walls at Belvelly are not good enough or strong enough to hold the water back. Its time to look at improving this situation as the people of the Great Island ,Cobh and the residents of Belvelly deserve nothing less.”

In conclusion Cllr Rasmussen stated “My aim is to have a new primary artery constructed into Cobh and I will not rest until this happens. The present situation that we find ourselves would not be tolerated in Dublin or anywhere else and the tide of time has taken its toll on the Belvelly road. Its now time for action to rectify this ridiculous situation.

“I will be raising this both at County and National level in the weeks ahead and I will do everything in my power to get the necessary flood defences in place before the people of Cobh suffer whereby access is cut off in an emergency situation and more serious questions to be answered.”

Councillor Rasmussen can be contacted on 0868878421