In the past 30 years in Ireland, there has been a 7 per cent increase in rainfall. We certainly would not.”Concrete is at the centre of the Irish flooding dilemma, underlined starkly by this week’s Storm Chandra, but it is not the solution. The National Roads Association was surprised at that time by the flooding of the M4 in Kildare, near Maynooth. It highlights the merits of a “scaling-out” of nature-based solutions to complement engineering and technical solutions. They cite one example of the extension of the Luas line being accompanied by embedding street trees in extensive pits to lessen the effect of storm water on the line.

Source: The Irish Times January 30, 2026 13:31 UTC