Debate contribution: Flooding in South Down: Economic Recovery
Debate contribution by Mrs Sinéad Ennis on .
- MLA
- Mrs Sinéad Ennis
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 27 February 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Adjournment
- Heading
- Flooding in South Down: Economic Recovery
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4238169
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Minister for being here to respond to the debate. As many Members have outlined and as people will be well aware, the storms that hit South Down and parts of Newry last November were absolutely devastating for homes and businesses, many of which were ruined. As well as that, our road network and infrastructure around South Down have not fully recovered from the devastation that they experienced last November. A number of landslides in South Down caused massive disruption in Kilkeel and Hilltown, and I want to focus my attention on the worrying, for me and the people whom I represent in that area, collapse of the A2 Shore Road between Rostrevor and Killowen. It coincided with another flood at Ballyedmond, meaning that the people living in and around the Killowen area were completely stranded, isolated and cut off from the greater Newry area. Whole communities were locked out from accessing vital services, and I think that that highlights once again how our rural communities can be left behind in the worst of circumstances. We often talk about regional balance in the Assembly. We often think of the west of the Bann when we talk about regional balance and imbalance; very often, South Down and the Newry area are forgotten about. The floods highlighted years of underinvestment or no investment in our infrastructure and road network. That left us completely exposed to the flooding and the unprecedented weather event that we had last November. I spoke to local residents who were unable to get to work; some of them were forced to take days off, unpaid. That obviously had a negative economic impact on workers who were already struggling and added to the pressure that our local businesses were facing. It is hugely welcome that the Economy Minister, Conor Murphy, has announced the additional support for businesses damaged by the recent floods and the financial support grants available to help those businesses to get moving. I thank the Minister for listening to the concerns of those business owners and acting as quickly as he could to get that support out the door. I hope that Newry, Mourne and Down District Council will work proactively to ensure that applications are processed as soon as possible. As I said, it is worrying that, months on from the collapse of the Shore Road, it remains only partially open. We are still dealing with the impact of that today. We are still seeing long delays on the Shore Road and the congestion and the headache that that brings for people who live in the Mournes and the Killowen area. They are still feeling the impact. Although I appreciate that Conor Murphy is here in his capacity as the Economy Minister, DFI also has a role to play, and we have been proactively engaging with the Minister for Infrastructure to find a resolution. We need to understand that the potential for further landslides and further subsidence on the A2 Rostrevor Road still exists. We need a joined-up approach between DFI and the Forest Service, and we need it to be sorted out ASAP. Our weather and climate are constantly changing and are unpredictable, and all that it will take is another — mild, perhaps — weather event for those people in the Mournes and Killowen to be cut off again. It is not good enough. We need to get it sorted, and we need to get it sorted ASAP. Extended delays and closures are causing significant disruption, and it is not fair on people who live in the Mournes, the greater Mournes area and the Killowen area. We need to see the Department for Infrastructure working with different agencies, as I said, in particular, the Forest Service. I have written to the Minister for Infrastructure to ask him to liaise with the Forest Service to find a resolution to the landslide and subsidence issues at the A2 Rostrevor Road. I pay tribute to the businesses that were impacted for their resilience, to all our local representatives and to everybody who was on the ground getting stuck in and being there for our constituents. That is what we are there to do. As I said, we are still dealing with its impact in South Down, and we need to see a swift resolution, particularly for those people in the Mournes, and to reinforce the subsidence issues on the A2 Rostrevor Road.
738 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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