Richard O'Donoghue Warns of Failures in Storm Response
Richard O'Donoghue spoke about two consecutive storms affecting Limerick and parts of Munster, criticising the absence of red warnings and shortcomings in emergency resourcing. He said residents were left trapped without power or heating, local services were stretched, and a community member, John O'Neill, died.
Richard O'Donoghue said Mid-Airdon did not issue a red warning for Munster during heavy snowfall that left up to three feet of snow from the legs of Kerry into Limerick and other parts of Munster. He added that a freezing fog warning was put up in Dublin the following week but Munster again received no red warning, leaving people trapped for three to five days without power, heating or usable chimneys because of new plan and regulations.
He reported the tragic death of John O'Neill and said local people, backed by the County Council and the Gardaí, had to improvise search-and-rescue efforts. He described how Gardaí had to borrow a Jeep from another county to assist and highlighted the involvement of civil defence and the Red Cross in providing meals and support.
Richard O'Donoghue praised farmers and local residents who used tractors, jeeps, quads and other vehicles to reach those affected and to clear damage. He described how people provided generators and heating, opened businesses to offer warm spaces and gave out soup and sandwiches; he also recounted personally helping to lift the roof of a standing Kemalach off a house.
He criticised the government response, saying communities were "left high and dry" and that Gardaí and other services lacked sufficient funding to save lives and carry out rescue work. He argued that new regulations restricting chimneys worsened the hardship for households without power or heating.
While describing disappointment with official preparations and resourcing, Richard O'Donoghue said there are lessons to be learned and emphasised the role of local volunteers and organisations in filling gaps during the storms. He urged attention to funding and planning so emergency services and communities are better supported in future severe weather events.
Storm warnings and immediate impact
Richard O'Donoghue said Mid-Airdon did not issue a red warning for Munster during heavy snowfall that left up to three feet of snow from the legs of Kerry into Limerick and other parts of Munster. He added that a freezing fog warning was put up in Dublin the following week but Munster again received no red warning, leaving people trapped for three to five days without power, heating or usable chimneys because of new plan and regulations.
Fatality and search-and-rescue challenges
He reported the tragic death of John O'Neill and said local people, backed by the County Council and the Gardaí, had to improvise search-and-rescue efforts. He described how Gardaí had to borrow a Jeep from another county to assist and highlighted the involvement of civil defence and the Red Cross in providing meals and support.
Local community response and improvised aid
Richard O'Donoghue praised farmers and local residents who used tractors, jeeps, quads and other vehicles to reach those affected and to clear damage. He described how people provided generators and heating, opened businesses to offer warm spaces and gave out soup and sandwiches; he also recounted personally helping to lift the roof of a standing Kemalach off a house.
Criticism of official resourcing and regulatory impact
He criticised the government response, saying communities were "left high and dry" and that Gardaí and other services lacked sufficient funding to save lives and carry out rescue work. He argued that new regulations restricting chimneys worsened the hardship for households without power or heating.
Lessons and local resilience
While describing disappointment with official preparations and resourcing, Richard O'Donoghue said there are lessons to be learned and emphasised the role of local volunteers and organisations in filling gaps during the storms. He urged attention to funding and planning so emergency services and communities are better supported in future severe weather events.
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Transcript
Thank you, Count Carla. We're here talking today about the storm, but in Limerick we had two storms. First, we had the storm where we had a snowfall, which Mid-Airdon did not put out as a red warning for Munster, where we had up to three feet of snow from the legs of Kerry all the way back down into Limerick and different parts of Munster. No red warning, but the following week they were able to put up a freezing fog in Dublin, but with no red warning for Munster. Now, what happened there was we had people trapped in their houses up for three and four and five days. No power in their houses, no heating in their houses, no chimneys in their houses to light a fire because of the new plan and regulations. That's what we had. We then had a tragic death in our community of John O'Neill and God rest his soul. And only for the local people, backed up by the County Council, backed up by the Gardaí who had to borrow a Jeep from another county to come out and assist, for the search and rescue, for the civil defence, for the Red Cross even to provide meals for people who had to borrow vehicles from other counties. It was the one thing that showed up of the lack of resources these people have. Can you imagine that the Gardaí had to borrow a Jeep from another area to come out and do a search and rescue? Can you imagine it? How did this land your Spirit come out? Only for the farmers and the people that had access to tractors and jeeps and quads and whatever they could come up with went out and helped the people but where the Government are subsidising places they're not subsidising enough. And then after the damage been done by the snow, we then had the storm which actually wrecked places where I actually personally myself went out with another crew to lift the roof of a standing Kemalach off a person's house and again we had to assist there but only for the people in the communities that came out to help the government left them high and dry and from the social media point of view left them high and dry from the government's point of view left them high and dry so was the local communities and the local people and the likes of the civil defence and Redcroft the search and rescue that came but they were missing and the Gardaí they were missing the funding to make sure that they could save lives that to me is a disappointment but we can learn from this people provided generators people provided heating for homes people opened up their businesses and got them running and brought locals from around the area and gave them soup and sandwiches to keep them warm and a warm place because they had no heating in their own house that's what our local people done where the government left us down thank you