Rain and the sight of more rain to come the story of spring to date

It was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who once saId “into each life some rain must fall”.

Well if the American poet and educator doesn’t mind we’ve all had our fill of rain in this town, and this country at this stage of our lives.

There has hardly been a day in March when it was safe to go outside without a rain jacket, or an umbrella.

Gardeners anxious to get the first cut on their lawns are finding that areas of their gardens that never previously flooded are saturated.

Farmers are at their wits’ end, unable to get into fields, football clubs are concerned over the state of their pitch and the damage to the playing surface once the season commences in earnest. Golfers are considering asking their clubs for a reduction in their green fees as their courses are closed frequently. Quite remarkably, there hasn’t being four consecutive entirely dry days recorded at the weather station at Dundalk Golf Club since mid-July.

Farming is affected by the weather more than most and the sodden earth means that there will fewer Irish potatoes for the dinner table come late summer or early autumn.

Sowing is already getting late for spring wheat, beans and oats and if the ground doesn’t get strong easterly winds very soon to dry out the fields, we will be relying on more expensive imported potatoes for the dinner table before the end of the year.

A typical weather forecast on the nightly news goes along the line of shattered showers, interspersed with heavy-downpours and the risk of localised flooding in places.

There is however another price to be paid for the exceptionally level of rainfall that has fallen in recent times and that concerns the damage to road surfaces.

Currently there is hardly a road in town that is not dotted with potholes, with some considerably worse than others.

In addition a number of areas in town that never previously experienced flooding are now regularly flooded, the Rampart Road, outside of the Marches being one such area.

We all know that during heavy rainfall or flooding, roads in need of maintenance become susceptible to various surface issues. Potholes, cracks and other deformations can appear due to the impact of the rain and water infiltration.

Unfortunately there are several very busy roads within the town that weren’t in great shape before this exceptional period of heavy rain, and are now in a terrible state, Stepleton Place being one.

Understandably repairs can’t be undertaken until the weather improves, but the reality is that filling a few potholes is not going to be sufficient in many cases, for some roads, particularly the Dublin Road from the traffic lights at Carrolls old factory to Hill Street bridge needs a major resurfacing job.

If, as many predict, the levels of rainfall that we have experienced this Spring are down to climate change, then local authorities responsible for maintenance of roads and footpaths are going to have to allocate bigger budgets, for in many cases the deteriorating roads surfaces in our town are a danger, especially for cyclists.

There’s another quote about rain which says “the nicest thing about the rain is that it always stops. Eventually”. Well some are doubting that after last month.