This weekend we found ourselves back in the ballyhouras which was just as well given the scale of the flooding in the rest of the country over the last few weeks. As we made our way down it rained non stop from Wexford to Ballyhoura country. The rivers along the way were swollen beyond their banks and every low lying field had become a lake, we weren’t even in the worst of it.

While the media argued the toss last week about whether this was a 1 in 800 year event or whether it was likely to occur every 10 years from now on, those in the low lying areas had the worst of all nightmares visited upon them, loosing everything, their property their businesses and all they had worked for over years. Sandbags were poor defense against the volume of water which pooled over thousands of acres of farmland and villages. Neighbour helped neighbour through day and night  to salvage whatever could be saved from the relentless attack of water. Water everywhere and not a drop to drink, as clean water supplies became contaminated with waste material. In the end little could be done except to head for higher ground.