Conference Chairperson & Opening Remarks

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Residual Flood Risk & Design-Led Planning – Managing What’s Still at Stake

Speaker: Mistaya Langridge, MASc, EIT, MIEI, Senior Engineer, McCloy Consulting

• Identifying the exposures not captured by CFRAM or historical mapping, including pluvial, groundwater, and coastal risks
• Incorporating updated OPW guidance and local flood relief scheme data into risk planning
• Making FRAs and SFRAs meaningful, inspection-proof, and aligned with the 2009 Guidelines and Climate Adaptation Framework (2024–2030)
• Clarifying operational roles across OPW, Uisce Éireann, and local authorities to avoid duplication and close accountability gaps
• Ensuring design, planning, and emergency management operate as a single, integrated system for community resilience

Nature-Based and Sustainable Flood Management

Speaker: Jonathan Cooper, Flood Resilience and Adaptation Consultant, Cooper Resilience Consulting Ltd

• Integrating engineered defences with natural floodplains, wetlands, and blue-green infrastructure
• Aligning Irish projects with the EU Nature Restoration Law (2024) and domestic biodiversity targets
• Cost-effective implementation through hybrid “green-grey” approaches promoted by OPW and EPA
• Funding opportunities through LIFE, Horizon Europe, and the Climate Adaptation Fund
• Demonstrating community, biodiversity, and economic co-benefits of nature-based flood schemes

Attributing and Scaling Climate Change Impacts on Floods Through Causal Chains: Evidence from the Shannon Catchment

Speaker: Prof. Conor Murphy, Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS (ICARUS), Department of Geography, Maynooth University

• Examining how climate change is influencing flood-relevant rainfall and flood magnitude
• Demonstrating a causal-chain framework linking global temperature rise to local hydrological impacts
• Demonstrating how climate-driven and catchment-driven effects can be separated
• Providing emerging evidence of an anthropogenic signal in the Shannon catchment
• Highlighting how the approach can extend to droughts, low flows, and wider water-system impacts

OPW Funding Applications – Meeting the Technical and Evidence Requirements

• Understanding what qualifies as robust evidence for Minor Works and Major Flood Schemes
• Building strong business cases with clear benefit-cost ratios, hydrological modelling, and optioneering
• Sequencing feasibility studies, stakeholder consultation, and funding bids to streamline delivery
• Incorporating new co-funding opportunities under the Climate Adaptation Fund and EU resilience programmes
• Avoiding rework through technically sound, stakeholder-aligned submissions

Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) in Housing Development and Flood Risk Management

• Applying the Flood Risk Management Guidelines (2009) and the Justification Test in housing development and rezoning decisions
• Integrating Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) as a core requirement in all new residential developments under national guidance expected in 2025/2026
• Using SuDS-led design to reduce long-term flood exposure while continuing to meet Housing for All delivery targets
• Retrofitting and elevating existing homes in flood-prone areas — design considerations, funding routes, and insurance implications
• Balancing national housing supply with local flood risk, insurance viability, and long-term climate resilience

Coordinating Flood Emergency Response – Lessons from Recent Events

• Reviewing Ireland’s 2023–2024 flood events and identifying where coordination succeeded or failed
• Strengthening collaboration between Fire Services, Civil Defence, Coast Guard, local authorities, and the OPW under the Framework for Major Emergency Management (MEM)
• Updating MEM protocols to reflect climate-driven and localised flood events
• Improving real-time communications, early-warning alerts, and public messaging across agencies
• Using recovery data and after-action reviews to drive preparedness and continuous improvement

Insurance, Risk Sharing and Economic Recovery

• How insurers, government, and local authorities can collaborate to make flood insurance affordable and accessible
• Data-sharing between insurers and OPW to improve risk mapping and flood-scheme prioritisation
• Incorporating insights from the Insurance Ireland Flood Committee and emerging recommendations under the National Resilience Plan
• Managing business continuity and recovery for SMEs and homeowners after severe flooding
• International examples (e.g. UK Flood Re) and how similar risk-sharing models could be adapted for Ireland