Roscommon farmer forced to sell pregnant ewes due to flooding

An elderly Roscommon farmer has been forced to sell his pregnant ewes “and stand back and watch his life work being destroyed” due to rising water levels at Lough Funshinagh. (See video of the rising flood water below)

Lough Funshinagh Flood Crisis Committee posted shocking new photos of the devastation being visited on communities living around the lake.

"Spring has sprung but not at Lough Funshinagh,” the committee's secretary Geraldine Murray posted on the group's Facebook page. “Lisphelim on the south side of the lake is coming under increasing pressure from rising waters in recent days. Another farm is now being taken over by the lake.

“On what should be a lovely time on the farm welcoming ‘new arrivals’, this farmer below in his 90s is having to sell his pregnant ewes and stand back and watch his life work being destroyed. The pride this farmer took with his farm and his farmyard is clearly evident. This is beyond scandalous and has to stop.”

Separately, the Herald has learned there is a 50 per cent chance that water levels at Lough Funshinagh could rise by another 12cms this year.

Responding to a query from the Roscommon Herald, the Geological Survey of Ireland, which has been monitoring the lake since August 2016, said it has generated an up-to-date six month future estimate for water levels at the South Roscommon lake. The assessment suggests that there is a:

• a 95 % probability that water levels will reach approximately 69.09 m in 2024 (6 cm above the current level).

• a 50 % probability that water levels will reach approximately 69.15 m in 2024 (12 cm above the current level).

• a 5 % probability that water levels will reach approximately 69.35 m in 2024 (32 cm above the current level).

A spokesperson for the GSI said that the work on the Lough Funshinagh model is ongoing and that the results are subject to change and should be interpreted with caution.

“It should be noted that this assessment is not a forecast,” the spokesperson said. “Instead, it is an assessment of historic rainfall trends and how Lough Funshinagh would respond to them based on its current water level. Sequences of historic Met Éireann data was inputted into a hydrological model of the lough and used to produce a statistical analysis of how flood patterns may evolve in the lough over the next year. The technique assumes that rainfall trends over the next year will be broadly similar to rainfall trends from the last 30 years.” The work was carried out by consultants MKO Ireland and is based on models previously developed by South East Technological University.

Rising flood water at Lisphelim, South Roscommon.