FOREIGN Affairs Minister Micheal Martin last night stressed that Ireland's flood crisis now requires "all hands on deck", despite the looming national strike including emergency workers like firemen, army personnel and other frontline services.

Minister Martin said that public sector and emergency service workers have been "truly magnificent" over the past 72 hours in their battle to save lives and help flood victims. But he said Ireland now faced "an unprecedented situation" -- and would have to take matters "step by step".

And speaking of the impact Tuesday's national day of protest will have on affected areas, Taoiseach Brian Cowen yesterday said: "There is provision made for emergency cover. I don't believe the public service will leave neighbours in trouble. The appropriate cover will be provided and more if necessary in the areas affected by the flood."

The comments came as public pressure mounted on trade union leaders in Cork and Galway to allow essential frontline workers to continue with flood repair and clean-up work despite the national day of protest.

"In this city (Cork) alone there are 18,000 householders -- 50,000 people -- without water. There is an emerging public health concern because of the lack of sanitation, it is unique in an emergency context," Minister Martin said. "I am sure the commitment and generosity that has been in evidence over the last number of days, from all of those on the frontline, will continue over the coming days."

High winds may have claimed their first fatality when the body of a man in his 30s washed up on the beach at Ballyheighue, Co Kerry, yesterday. It is believed to be a windsurfer who had been reported missing in the afternoon.

The deluge has also caused severe disruption to rail services. The Galway line has bus transfers between Galway and Athlone; the Sligo line has transfers from Longford to Carrick-on-Shannon; the Limerick line to Ennis is similarly impaired; and there are bus transfers from Wicklow to Gorey due to landslides on the Rosslare line.

All other routes are operating normally. Full service information is available at www.irishrail.ie or by calling 1850-366-222.

Ireland is meanwhile bracing itself for a second wave of disastrous flooding after further torrential rainfall amid fears that the flood repair bill could exceed €300m.

A crisis summit of the Government's Emergency Task Force was yesterday told that the worst flooding disaster for decades has left hundreds of people homeless, tens of thousands of acres under water, 50,000 people in Cork city without drinking water, bankrupted businesses and left farmers facing a feed crisis that will last months.

Hundreds of families were still not back in their homes yesterday as another rain belt swept over the country hampering the efforts of emergency services.

Environment Minister John Gormley made a whistlestop tour of the worst affected areas yesterday before reporting back to Taoiseach Brian Cowen and the Emergency Task Force.

Mr Gormley said around 40 per cent of houses on the north side of Cork city were without drinking water and added that there were also problems with sanitation for many residents.

Many areas in the South, west and midlands remain flooded. AA Roadwatch said a large number of roads remain impassable. An inter-agency group, comprising the mid-west local authorities (Clare County Council, Limerick City Council, Limerick County Council and North Tipperary County Council) and emergency services, has warned of potential flooding along the lower River Shannon over the coming days.

The group stated that considerable volumes of water were moving down the River Shannon following recent torrential rainfall. Property owners and land owners from south of Killaloe/Ballina to Limerick city, particularly in flood-prone areas, were advised to exercise increased caution yesterday.

The emergency services are continuing to monitor the situation, in conjunction with the ESB at Ardnacrusha.

Yesterday, the Western Road, Carrigrohane Straight and Lee Road in Cork city remained closed, while Victoria Cross was impassable.

In west Cork, the Cork to Bantry Road remained blocked at Bandon.

In Co Galway the N17 Galway to Tuam Road was flooded at Two Mile Ditch and closed at Claregalway.

In Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, the Quay and Marches Street were impassable, though conditions improved slightly during yesterday.

In Clonmel, Co Tipperary, the Old Bridge, Gashouse Bridge and Raheen Road reopened, although Convent Bridge and Davis Road were closed yesterday afternoon.

In Limerick, the Shannon Bridge was closed most of yesterday after a 60ft Christmas tree got lodged against the bridge. Rural Galway has been among the worst-affected areas with IFA chief Padraig Walshe travelling west yesterday to meet with farmers whose winter feed stocks have been destroyed.

About 20,000 acres are under water in south Galway.

"The situation for many families is almost unmanageable and it is making working conditions extremely difficult for farmers," said the IFA president yesterday.

"In the immediate term, the farmers and households worst affected must be provided with priority assistance and the Government must bring forward a package of support measures to help families through this crisis," he said.

Until this year, Galway's record rainfall for November was in 2002 with 211mm. But by Wednesday of last week, the total had already reached 238.7mm and is likely to exceed 300mm by the end of the month. On Tuesday alone, in Galway, 60.8mm of rainfall was recorded.

Craughwell, Gort, Claregalway, Athenry and Abbeyknockmoy, and Athleague on the Galway-Roscommon border, were badly hit.

Hundreds of people were forced out of their homes in east and south Galway. Flood levels continued to rise.

In Ballinasloe, deteriorating conditions forced the ESB to disconnect power to hundreds of homes and businesses for safety reasons.

Ballinasloe was among the worst-affected urban areas after the River Suck burst its banks late on Thursday night and millions of gallons of water poured into the town centre. St Michael's Square, River Street and Derrymullen were the areas worst hit, with over 200 homes and business premises evacuated.

Troops from the Western Command were called in to assist gardai and Civil Defence members delivered thousands of sandbags to home and business premises. Flat-bottomed boats were used to rescue people stranded in their homes.

Businesses, already dealing with the retail crash, lost millions of euro of Christmas stock which will put many out of business for good.

Further upstream the River Suck also burst its banks at Athleague, blocking the main Galway-Roscommon road.

The full cost of the floods, which left parts of Cork city under water for the first time in more than 50 years, is likely to be more than €300m. This would dwarf the record €98m cost of nationwide flooding in August 2008.

One insurance company, Hibernia Aviva, had received 500 calls from customers by early Friday and those calls continued yesterday.

On the first leg of his tour of the worst-affected areas, Mr Gormley said he could fully understand how business people were feeling in Cork and in towns like Bandon coming up to Christmas. The minister also met with a task force set up in Cork to discuss the extent of the damage and the clean-up before travelling to Ennis and Ballinasloe.

The Defence Forces have been working around the clock with about 175 soldiers, 24 vehicles, four flat-bottomed boats and more than 10,000 sandbags deployed in Cork, Bantry, Clonakilty, Clonmel, Ennis, Ballinasloe and Carlow. A further 300 soldiers, with vehicles and helicopters, were on standby.

Fears of water pollution have resulted in boil notices being issued in parts of counties Cork and Galway.

As the clean-up costs mount, insurance providers questioned the viability of paying repeat weather-related claims, saying insurance was for "unexpected" events -- but flooding in certain areas had become "predictable".

Meanwhile, the National Roads Authority opened one lane of the N6 Galway-Dublin motorway stretch between Galway city and Ballinasloe ahead of its official December 15 start date to keep a route to the west open.

Disaster sightseers were warned to stay out of flood zones and not to hinder the work of the over-stretched emergency services.

Garda Supt Eddie McKeown warned people to stay out of flood-hit Bandon in west Cork.

The appeal came as local traders described the flooding caused by the Bandon and Bridewell rivers as the worst in the town's history.

At the height of the flooding, water almost five feet deep was raging down Bandon's main shopping street.

The town was also cut off for a period as floods and mudslides closed all major access roads.

"We have checkpoints around the place trying to divert traffic. We are dealing with very serious issues here, not just the flood," Supt McKeown said.

"There is a lot of danger and I would appeal to people -- we do not want sightseers in Bandon."

- Jerome Reilly, Ralph Riegel and Don Lavery

Sunday Independent