Dundrum Cricket Club has again suffered serious flooding due to the recent storm causing the Moneycarragh Riiver to burst its banks.
Jeffrey Maguire, Chairman of Dundrum Cricket Club, was dismayed at the flooding of the cricket grounds in Dundrum early on Tuesday morning.
He said: “The last time there was a flood here was in 2008, The ground wa sunder seven foot of water then. This time it’s not quite as bad at just over four feet.
“But when you think of what the dozens of poor residents of Newcastle have had to endure, we are comparatively well off.
“The clubhouse is safe as it is built higher up. Two of our club members, captain James Martin and Conor Moag, whipped off their shirts and actually swan into the water to ensure that several large tree trunks did not damage the nets and other bits of equipment. It had to be done.
“The water has started to recede already and we’ll probably have to scarify the ground well, but there will not doubt be an issue with salt water having flowed in up the river and this tends to kill the grass.
“The damage by the fllood will be considerable so we will set up on Go Fund tomorrow evening to raise the money to get the grounds back into shape for next season.”
Jeffrey Maguire was thankful that no-one was injured in the flood which happened quickly around 6am on Tuesday morning.
He added: “It is very strange. Despite the impact of Covid-19, Dundrum Cricket Club has thrived this year. It has been a very short season, but we actually managed to field three teams this year.
“I think the players were just very glad to get out into the fresh air at the end of lockdown. Our club was founded in 1903 and is still going great.
“We were planning to have a tripp to Shropshire this year but that will now take place hopefully next year.
“Covid-19 and this flood have been serious setbacks but at least we can be thankful that the damage is repairable. We will fight back and come out stronger next year.
“For a number of years we have been asking the Rivers Agency to fix a pipe that runs under the cricket grounds. When it floods this pipe bursts forth and spews water into the air.
“Councillor Alan Lewis is addressing this issue on our behalf so hopefully in th elonger term we may get some action over it. We appreciate that Ivers Agency is busy at the moment with the Newcastle situation and must rightly prioritise.”
And Jeffrey explained that he was amazed at one Twitter post he put up had reached 100,000 views. He said: “Players from all over Ireland North and South and in England and beyond were showing their support.”
