Mattie McGrath Defends Civil Defence Volunteers and Local Memorials
Deputy Mattie McGrath spoke about the role and challenges facing civil defence volunteers, flood response and the ownership of community memorials. He praised volunteers, warned against their misuse for administrative tasks, and defended local committees' control of a war memorial and the tricolour.
Civil defence structure and volunteers
He noted civil defence is the jurisdiction of the Department of Defence, managed by 35 local authority civil defence officers and approximately 3,500 volunteers. He paid tribute to long-serving officers such as Eddie Coney and recalled how local councillor Jimmy Hogan and his wife looked after him and his children during community events.
Flood response and funding
He thanked the former Minister of State Aras Thord, Matt Manchester and others for funding a flood-defence scheme he described as 95 per cent successful in keeping out water. He said volunteers remain on hand for floods and missing-person searches but argued they are being used by local authorities and Irish Water to deliver notices such as boiled-water advisories.
Volunteer limits and service roles
He warned that cuts, insurance and regulation have limited civil defence activity, curtailing duties like traffic management and support at funerals despite volunteers' willingness to help. He also praised voluntary fire services, the Order of Malta and the Red Cross for their longstanding community roles and noted volunteers' pride in their vehicles, uniforms and contributions at festivals and field days.
Monuments and the tricolour
He expressed concern about what he called the hijacking of the tricolour and commemorative events and defended the local committee's ownership of a memorial built by the people of Newcastle, Belly-Bacon, Alphen and the Grange. He invoked his father's role as treasurer and insisted the monument, funded by local subscriptions and diaspora contributions, should remain in the hands of the original committee.
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The organisation of civil defence is the jurisdiction of the Department of Defence, managed by 35 local authorities civil defence officers and approximately 3,500 volunteers. I want to salute from the bottom of my heart the work they have done over the decades. Eddie Coney was our officer in charge for decades, and he is retired, but he has laid low at the moment. I wish him well, and now we have the lower study. But the volunteers, and the last speaker he's gone now, but Deputy Crowe, I remember I was chair of the council going to the summer camp up in the Hinch, and being looked after by the late councillor Jimmy Hogan, Fianna Gael councillor and his late wife, who were wonderful officers, and they looked after me and my three kids at the most of the final in Limerick on the way, such as a joyous occasion. But to talk about them, and they worked at it, and they worked at it, and they worked at it, and have done with the floods for decades. Now, thankfully, and thanks to the former Minister of State, Aras Thord, Matt Manchester as well, and others who helped provide the funding for that. A 95 per cent successful scheme in keeping out the water, but they are still on hand to help out when there are floods. When there is someone missing a person, when there is water out, and I think they are actually abused by the local authorities, and struck Irish water, when they have to deliver your notices out, you know, with a boiled water notice and whatever. So, we need to respect them, and not make them just be using for that. I know they have been cut back an awful lot in recent years, and limits is what they can do, because they used to give great assistance at traffic and management at funerals and all that. Not obviously they have been pulled back from them because of insurance and everything else. They love to do it, but the rules and regulations deny them for doing it. So, this bill has been a consolidated number of acts, so I hope it will. And I don't know, I'm not certain, like often, legislation can have unintended consequences. So, it is a very difficult area now to get volunteers, as you know. And same with the voluntary fire services, they are tremendous people. And they kind of push to the side now, they are not really, you know, they tell you that the tenders are not undrupted standards, whatever, but they were almost local to the people, and were there first normally on the scene, and dealt with many, many cases of difficult cases as well. But in the case of civil defence, you know, and they pride in their vehicles, and they have pride in their vehicles, pride in their uniforms, pride in their colleagues, and they assisted many festivals and community events where, you know, others wouldn't be, in a gallery, a corner, a tin on the ground, so community events and field days and what it would be. You know, and I should throw in, to be fair, the Order of Malta and the Red Cross, they do tremendous work as well, and have done over the decades. But we must strengthen them, we must have the motto, the idea of the mail, and that's what they work on. But we can't have them, as I said, being Irish water and others, using it for that. And in the vein of the last speaker, again, and he mentioned monuments and parades at weekends and all, I, too, agree with what he said. People are hijacking the tricolour, hijacking many, many events and political parties. Some of them are in here, hijacking the Lee Minish Memorial monument, and my dad was proud to be a clerk of Wuxel. There were 12 members in that committee. My dad was a giant treasurer, and most of them served in prison, served in the War of Independence and the Civil War, and we're a national commemoration. And some people want to claim ownership of this monument, built by the sweat and blood of people that handed stone to stone to hand to hand. And some people arrive along now and say, hey, Preston, we're the new kids on this block, we own this. Nobody owns the tricolour. Nobody owns it, but the National Army are proud to represent it. But nobody owns the Relic, Liam O'Lycheek, and his family managed him to commemorate. There was one in Fermi as well, on the 11th of April. And we look forward to a proper weekend of commemoration. And you were down at a torch in the past, and we're not going to allow it to be hijacked by anyone. A monument was built by the people of Newcastle, Belly-Bacon, Alphen and the Grange. The money came from America. I see the letters that came from my dad as treasurer, a shilling and a half-crown, whatever. Sweat and blood and tears, with pride, and it's staying that way, and it's staying in the ownership of that committee. Thank you.
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