Cork sports club ‘heartbroken’ following €35k flood damage

A CORK sports club has been left “heartbroken” following €35,000 worth of flood damage to gym equipment.

The owner of Cork Acro Gymnastics Club in Carrigtwohill, Neil Sheehan, has said that much of their equipment is unsalvageable after the flooding caused by Storm Babet.

“We have estimated that with all the sports equipment we have lost, as well as floor heaters, it adds up to around €35,000 — all gone to the skip,” he told The Echo.

Neil, who runs the gymnastics club with his wife Clare, has said that despite preparing with flood defences, much of the expensive gym equipment was destroyed within an hour.

Mr Sheehan said: “Within an hour of the water coming to the door, we were completely flooded. I had wellingtons on, and the water was to the top of the wellies. We tried to pick up the equipment as soon as we saw the water coming in, but most of it was quickly covered by the flood.”

The pair have been running the Carrigtwohill club for 40 years and are heartbroken by the damage.

“This is a non-profit club, anything that we make goes straight back into the club,” he said. “It has taken years of building to buy this equipment, and to see it being picked up with a forklift and fired into a skip is heartbreaking.”

Helped by locals, the couple have been attempting to dry out the gym but, weeks on from Storm Babet, much of their equipment is still soaked.

“There has been a lot of stuff that we haven’t been able to save. The flood water isn’t just water — it brought in sewage, diesel off the road, and dirt.

“A lot of it is foam-based as well, so it has all expanded and is falling to pieces. So obviously anything like that we couldn’t possibly put down again.”

“The gymnastics flooring, that you would probably see in the Olympics or other competitions when they do their floor routines, we have two of those in the gym. They roughly cost about €25,000 each and at the minute we are still attempting to save those,” he said.

Cork Acro are currently searching for a new practice space, but have yet to find anywhere suitable for the level of training their members need.

“We are between a rock and a hard place at the minute trying to find somewhere, because gymnastics is not a sport that you can just take a few weeks off from training,” he said. “We are trying for new units but there is nothing suitable available anywhere in East Cork.”

The East Cork gym owners have said that Cork Acro is a second home for its members, some of whom have also had to evacuate their houses due to the flooding.

“We are very conscious that we are a sports club, it is terrible what has happened to us, but there are people who have lost their homes. Our gym is a second home to an awful lot of kids, and they are hurting the most because of this.”

Neil said that continuing to provide a safe space for their members to enjoy the sport that they love is a priority and has appealed for anyone with information on a suitable premises to contact them.