Storm Éowyn aftermath: Call to remove trees along roads in Mayo

REMOVE trees along roads and keep future planting back 20 metres from roads and power lines.

The call comes in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn, which saw falling trees impacting roads, electricity and telecom lines all around Mayo.

Councillors at a Westport-Belmullet Municipal District meeting yesterday praised the response of council, ESB, Uisce Éireann and other emergency services crews on the ground, along with local communities, in how they responded to the crisis, though there was criticism about communication from council management to elected members.

And trees came in for a call for direct action, with Councillor Johnny O'Malley calling for them to be removed 'from the roots' along roads as they are causing 'mayhem'.

There's plenty of other land where people can plant if they want to, he pointed out.

Councillor O'Malley also called out Telecom over lines being down, some since the previous storm.

The need for generators at water treatment plants was previously highlighted by cathaoirleach Councillor Sean Carey, yet thousands of households were left without water as Uisce Éireann hadn't provided this facility, he said.

His north Mayo colleague Councillor Gerry Coyle agreed, saying it was ridiculous that 11,000 people in Erris were affected as there was no generator.

The 'failure' in communication from senior management to elected members was highlighted by Councillor Peter Flynn. They were inundated with calls from people seeking information but they didn't have it and were left in the dark about critical services, he said.

An emergency hub was set up on the day of the meeting. That was three days after the event - “too little too late.”

There were communications people in the council, water and electricity services and they couldn't get as much as a text about what was happening in terms of their services.

Also on communication, Councillor Brendan Mulroy said no one from Uisce Éireann told the businesses in Westport about a pending water outage. And at 9 p.m., with restaurants, pubs and hotels full, it happened.

Elected members kept the town operational with information as best they could, he said, but they had to go looking for it as none was coming to them.

He wanted a conversation with all the services to plan lines of communication and have more joined up thinking.

Councillor Paul McNamara commented on the need for a serious upgrade of the ESB network in rural areas.

Telecom lines hanging down was another issue, with Councillor Gerry Coyle saying some were so low you could hang your underwear on them, while Councillor O'Malley highlighted a case where an oil tanker couldn't deliver because of them.

Polls are sideways, with lines not at a specified height from the ground, and then storms take them down, said Councillor McNamara.

The issue has been raised time and time again but has 'fallen on deaf ears'.

“Trees and telecom lines have to be addressed,” he said.

On communication, difficulties with mobile and phone networks being down were highlighted, with available contact numbers relayed to the different areas.

The council's primary remit was getting roads open, which was delivered, members were told.

The way forward in how we deal with storms is to go backwards, Councillor Gerry Coyle suggested.

We have made life difficult for ourselves, he said. Alexa was the new radio, but without electricity it won't come on.

He admitted he 'fell into that trap' of not keeping a transistor radio.

“We have become so dependent on all these gadgets.” As far as he was concerned, the way forward is the way backwards.

Fireplaces and chimneys are another point, with a lot of people badly caught by not being able to put down a fire after losing power and water following Storm Éowyn, said Councillor O'Malley.

And he highlighted the dangers with pulling out old gas heaters from years ago. One person who brought a heater into a room was nearly killed where a pipe was leaking and their room burst into flames after they lit a cigarette.

The heaters need to be maintained, he emphasised.

Chimneys are an essential piece of infrastructure and the planning laws need to be seriously looked at,” said Councillor Chris Maxwell.

Keeping in mind that the environment needs looking after, Councillor Mulroy suggested all new houses should have a fire place, but without a back boiler, so they have some way of having heat.

Another issue he questioned was why the fire service were only put on standby at the last minute. He wondered if it was a cost saving measure, saying if there's a red warning they and all emergency services should be on standby.