Renewed call to place Mayo power lines underground

The impact of the recent storm has laid 'absolutely bare' how Mayo and rural Ireland have been neglected for so long.

The view has been articulated by Erris-based TD Rose Conway-Walsh.

She elaborated: "It revealed how the ESB and EirGrid have been let away by successive governments not making the investments that needed to be made.

"Years ago we asked EirGrid so many times - back when I was on Mayo County Council - to put some of those lines underground.

"They said it could not be done even though we knew from other countries that it could be done.

"There are many things to be learned from this. We need action on it.

"The most immediate action we need is for water and electricity be to reinstated within hours to the areas where it has not yet been, and particularly in Mayo.

"We absolutely have to get farmers' sheds replaced as well.

"So many of these farmers are already waiting for their ACRES payments. On top of this now they have no sheds. Many farmers have lost fodder.

"I hear that an oyster farm has lost €160,000 worth of equipment and products. We cannot sit back.

"We must put schemes in place but the schemes have to be accessible and we have to get rid of the bureaucracy with it.

"That Uisce Éireann does not have generators is absolutely crazy and must be fixed. This also applies to the group water schemes. Funding must be made available for this."