Frustration as eir services remain down in parts of Mayo

NINE weeks after Storm Éowyn struck Mayo, some elderly people remain without the use of their pendant alarms as eir services are still down.

Frustrated councillors again raised their plight at a Westport-Municipal District meeting this week, where a request a month earlier for eir to address network and supply issues met with no response.

Achill Councillor Paul McNamara said he has been inundated with calls where elderly people, dependent on their emergency pendants, remain without service.

He has made numerous reports and still no sign of a lot of affected areas getting supply back.

Meanwhile people are paying bills for a service they don't have, with poles and cables lying along the side of the road.

Enough isn't being done for older people and no one seems bothered, he said.

Belmullet Councillor Gerry Coyle said he knows of a woman who hasn't had service since Storm Darragh in December, despite paying €60 a month for her pendant and line.

His area colleague Councillor Sean Carey highlighted the nightmare for customers, with one elderly man suffering a fall and spending a number of hours on the floor until a neighbour called by.

And poles overhanging roads are a health and safety concern, with people worried they will fall down, he added.

Councillor Chris Maxwell said eir should be doing like the ESB did after the storm - seek help from outside and get the job done.