Torrential rain causes landslide near Leenane

Torrential rain causes landslide near Leenane


Anton McNulty

TORRENTIAL rainfall over the weekend resulted in a landslide near Leenane which blocked the road between Delphi and the Ashleigh Falls on Monday evening.
On the morning of the landslide, Monday April 5, there was four inches of rainfall recorded in the area and at approximately 6pm a landslide blocked the R335 road. As a result the road was closed for a number of hours and Council staff were called out to clear the road. The weather at the time was very poor with torrential rain and heavy winds blamed for the landslide.
Martin Gavin, Chairman of Mayo IFA who is based in Leenane told The Mayo News that the landslide did not cause major damage to property in the area but the road was completely blocked. He paid tribute to the Council staff for coming quickly to the scene to clear the road.
“I have to acknowledge the contribution of the Council staff who were at the scene very quickly and worked hard to clear the road. This was a Bank Holiday Monday and they sacrified their evening to come out here in the rain and we are very grateful. At the time, it was not the nicest place to be because on one side you have Killary and the other side is the mountain and there is not much room for an escape if there was another landslide,” he said.
Leenane has suffered its fair share of landslides in recent years caused by heavy rainfall and flashflooding. In 2007, a 150 year old stone bridge going through the village collapsed and washed away following three hours of torrential rain.
At the time this caused major traffic disruptions with motorists facing diversions of over 110km. A new €2m bridge was built to replace the old bridge and was officially opened last year.