Flooding contributed to the death of much loved Roscommon man, says action group
The late Edward John Beattie observing the flooding outside his home.
The stress caused by the flooding at Lough Funshinagh helped shorten the life of a much loved local man.
Ballagh man, Edward John Beattie passed away on Tuesday last surrounded by his family, in the devoted care of the staff at the Roscommon Hospice. Mr Beattie, along with his beloved wife, was forced to evacuate their home for months in 2021 due to encroaching water from the South Roscommon lake.
Mr Beattie was buried on Friday in Rahara. During his funeral Mass he was praised as a gentleman and a devoted community and family man.
This evening, the Lough Funshinagh Flood Crisis action group, said that the community around Lough Funshinagh had lost a dear friend and neighbour.
“Described this week by the Roscommon Herald as a ‘stalwart and an absolute gentleman’, much of his final years became defined by the flooding at the lake,” the action group said.
“He suffered immensely during this time and was forced from his home in 2021. The authorities were warned to the dangers of not taking action in 2016 but decided to ignore the issue until it became an impossible situation and one that has inflicted so much suffering on young and old around the lake and indeed in the wider area. Today, many more like him live in fear of what is to come this winter, some of them also in their 80s and 90s. While Edward no longer has to worry like he did about water coming into his bedroom late at night, others will, unless action is taken without delay. May his gentle, generous soul rest in peace. Your worries are no more.”
It added that no citizen of this country should ever have to endure what this kind, gentle man had to go through in the last 8 years.
“It, without doubt, shortened his life and contributed to his demise.” Cllr Laurence Fallon, who praised Mr Beattie as a gentleman who would be sorely missed, said a planning application for a temporary solution which would see water pumped from the lake to the Cross River was “on track”. It aims to be submitted to An Bord Pleanála by the end of the month.
