'Lessons will be learned' from storm says new Minister

“Lessons will be learned, we must learn from this,” said newly installed Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage of Ireland, James Browne, when visiting Cavan last week to observe the community response in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn.

Speaking to the Celt, he suggested the “impact on modern technology” by severe weather events has been the biggest eye-opener for everyone, not just co-ordinated statutory agencies but the public at large.

There are, the minister found, houses now “without so much as a box of matches any more”.

And when communications “go down as well”, he suggested that Ireland now has to consider how to deal with “all of these situations, which mightn't have been as impactful decades ago”.

The Celt asked Minister Browne, specific to his newly received brief on housing, whether he'll be making any recommendations concerning the ban of chimneys in new builds or blocking up existing outlets on existing homes as part of the green agenda.

He states that A-rated homes, built to date, have had a “massive impact” already, not just on the climate but in terms of challenging fuel poverty too.

“I think probably what is the biggest challenge is not the modern houses that are A-rated, because they should be able to stay warm in these kinds of weathers.

“But rather those that have been retrofitted that are more challenging, not quite up at A rating, are B rated, have air to heat pumps, and when they go down certainly those houses are probably quite cold. So we do have to look at those kinds of situations. We have to really analyse all of the learnings to come out of this, because there are some new learnings that wouldn't have been there in previous times.”

'An exemplar'

Minister Browne met Cathaoirleach of Cavan County Council, Cllr T.P. O'Reilly, Chief Executive Eoin Doyle; Director of Services John Donohoe who helped coordinate the network of community hubs, as well as frontline and emergency service staff attached to the Cavan-Belturbet Municipal District.

The meeting took place at the Cavan Civil Defence HQ on the Dublin Road and, afterwards, the minister visited Kingspan Breffni, which Cavan County Board opened to the public in the immediate aftermath of the category red Storm Éowyn, and latterly Storm Herminia.

He said what had been mobilised in Cavan, with 30 plus community hubs set up, while a round-the-clock workforce operated in tandem with the local fire service to clear debris, was nothing short of “extraordinary”.

“Cavan is an exemplar” as to how to co-ordinate a response, remarked Minister Browne.

While this was the biggest storm witnessed to date, the minister was under no illusion that extreme weather events like it were “going to become more frequent”.

“What was once one-in-a-decade is now happening every year, and if it's not storms, it's snow or flash flooding," he acknowledged.

An important element of adopting a proactive response for the future, Cllr O'Reilly stressed, would be to listen to the likes of the council workers and emergency services operating “at the coalface”.

Mr Doyle acknowledged the work done, and also the role local media played in keeping the public informed of important information and developments as they came through.

He said the council's staff, including civil defence and also fire service members who attended from Belturbet Station, had been out responding to issues “night and day, in treacherous conditions”.

A sister station to Belturbet, in Dowra, lost all communication during the storm, requiring them to “work independently, in unprecedented circumstances”.

Community

Once the immediate emergency response stood back, the community response to meeting the needs of people ramped up. It is estimated on the first day of opening close to 1,200 utilised services provided at the network of 30 plus community hubs set up, the largest number established in the country.

The county library, meanwhile, took in 420 people the day before the minister's visit, separate to the 1,200 people.

“It has been a phenomenal response, and is a tremendous testament to the strength of community,” said Mr Doyle, highlighting the work done by Mr Donohoe, and others such as Senior Area Engineer, Paul Mulligan, and Margaret McNally, Head of Emergency Services and also Finance.

The minister noted that the storm experience had been a “wake up call” for society in general for its reliance on modern technology.

Mr Mulligan likened the situation of trying to get in touch with team members with the loss of the TETRA radio and back-up connections to the scene in '80s classic Crocodile Dundee where actor Paul Hogan climbs to the top of a ledge and uses what is called a bullroarer.

In west Cavan, Mr Mulligan organised with a local supervisor in the area to climb to the top of a nearby hill and call him once in the morning with an update and again at 2am.

John Maguire of the Civil Defence, meanwhile, added that in “storms gone by” the first port of call was to visit a local phonebox to relay urgent and necessary information.

“We'll have to look at that communication piece,” admitted Minister Browne, who said it was less than ideal to have emergency and ground staff “flying blind”.“It's when there is a lack of any information that people get really nervous,” said Fianna Fáil deputy, Niamh Smyth, also crediting local media.

“We have to consider an awful lot from this,” accepted Minister Browne. “I'm a great believer in local democracy and local media, it's essential we keep them going. They're a lifeline for an awful lot of people, especially in these types of situations to get the basic information out to people.”

After Deputy Brendan Smith reminded Minister Browne of the need for continued financial support for all aspects of Cavan County Council and the services they provide. He concluded by saying: “From our perspective we need to get better at getting it out there what the Emergency Coordination Group does. A lot of people don't know it's there and what it does.”

Minister Browne adds that once the dust has settled a “review” will be conducted to see how and where things could have been done better this time round.

“That will be important. Generators for Irish Water are absolutely crucial. It's not comfortable but you can survive without electricity, maybe for a few days, but water is absolutely essential. You can't go without that, either individuals or the farming community.”