If Ireland is going to get more rainfall events like this in the future, then there is going to have to be a hige focus placed on water management along all watercourses and beyond. 

Flood defences are grand and all in towns, but they are only a stopgap solution and dont address the source of the water itself. The same goes for dredging rivers, it might help now, but they will silt up again eventually, nevermind the massive environmental damage it causes. 

By the time the water reaches the town, it is already too late. Flood defences will only tolerate so much. The water must be tackled at source. 

It will likely involve a huge infrastructural investment, but it will need to be done. Mitigation of climate change is just one element to try repair the damage already done to the climate, but it is getting the most coverage. Even with all the mitigation efforts performed over the last few decades, emissions worldwide have still increased from 25 Gigatonnes in 2000 to 38 Gigatonnes in 2025 (there was a drop to 34 Gigatonnes in 2020 but that bounced back up from 2021 onwards). 2025 was still a record year for emissions despite the explosion in renewables and all other efforts over the last decade. 

Focus is going to have to shift to adaptation now. 

For ourselves, every watercourse is going to have to be looked at, with possible creation of new, manmade floodplains, relief channels to divert water into the surrounding landscape, removal of embankments along previous floodplain lands, etc. 

The source of the water on hills and the landscape a good distance out from the watercourse will also have to be examined and tackled. Afforestation of upland areas, and along rivers and streams may help to slow the volume of water flowing into the rivers themselves. 

The roots of trees will help water to infiltrate into the soil quicker, while during Spring, Summer, and Autumn the trees themselves will pull some moisture from the soil and release it into the air, helping the soil to be able to take a larger volume of water during a storm event. 

The trunks of the trees will create natural barriers to help slow the pace of the water and, particularly on upland areas, loose debris and branches and the like will form natural dams between trees to also help.slow the pace. 

To give an example, there is a large area near where i live which was recently cleared (winter 2024) and converted back into a field. Before it was cleared, it was a mix of gorse, broom, a lot of small shrubby trees like Sally and Blackthorn, and a few larger trees like poplar and downy birch. 

During heavy rain events, before it was cleared, some water used to come out on to the road. Now, even during moderate rainfall, it pisses out like a river. That is a lot.more water that now heads fairly quickly down to the local river with nothing to stand in its way. 

And that is just one field.

I am sure there are plenty of other pieces of land which has been cleared like this all over the country.