Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, and wish him well in his new portfolio. I look forward to working with him. This is the second opportunity I have had in this House to raise the issue of the bog slide on Shass Mountain in Drumkeeran in County Leitrim. I raised it with the Tánaiste last week, when he told me that in situations like this, where this is a disaster, the Government will normally step in to offer support. This is surely a disaster and it has now become an emergency. Many people who live in the area are asking where the support from Government is because they have not seen or heard anything in that regard. I have visited the site twice, the second occasion being last Friday evening when I went there with my colleague, Deputy Fitzmaurice. We visited the point on the mountain where islands of trees were emerging from the forestry and sliding down the side of the mountain. It was incredible to see it.

It is difficult to estimate the numbers but we are looking at the movement of some 300,000 or 400,000 cu. m of peat and bog. The bog slide continues down the mountain for several miles and stops within 200 m of two family homes and not 50 m from the Diffagher river which then goes on to flow into Lough Allen. Several homes are in danger and one house already has about 9 in. of bog at its back door. Vast swathes of land are being completely destroyed. The only thing holding back half the mountainside is the Dawn of Hope Bridge which was built in the late 1800s. It is absolutely astonishing that this bridge is still standing and holding back thousands of tonnes of trees and bog. We are facing an emergency and there are real fears that the bridge will not hold. Urgent action must be taken to reinforce it and try to stabilise the bog slide. That is the immediate need. People in the area, especially those whose homes are in danger and those whose land is being destroyed, need to know, nine days after the situation emerged, that they have not been forgotten.

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