Green Party calls out Government’s inaction on Storm Supports

This Saturday marks the one year anniversary since Storm Eowyn - the strongest storm ever to hit Ireland. Over eight hundred thousand homes were left without power, over one hundred thousand without water. 

A year on from Storm Eowyn, the Green Party believe that Government has failed to act quickly enough to strengthen protections against extreme weather events.

Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman asked for immediate action from Government:

“As extreme weather events become more frequent and destructive due to climate change, we need to strengthen our emergency services, and resource those who repair critical infrastructure, to respond rapidly and effectively.

There are three key steps that Government needs to take. First of all, Government needs to rapidly pass the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill. This will put electricity corridors on a legal footing, meaning owners of forestry plantations must cut back trees away from powerlines. 

Secondly, ESB Networks needs to rapidly get a mutual aid agreement in place with the European Electricity Network, so engineers from other countries can be more speedily deployed to Ireland when the next storm hits. 

Finally, we believe Minister Darragh O’Brien needs to meet with the Climate Change Advisory Council to discuss the significant issues that the CCAC has raised with the sectoral adaptation plans to deal with extreme weather events, which were approved by the Government in November.”

Last January almost 650 engineers from the UK and EU countries traveled here to help with the Eowyn clean up, but that number was reached 13 days after the storm. Many people were left without power for up to a week.

In Mayo, 43,000 customers lost power initially, but 17,500 were still without power 7 days later.

Niall Murphy, by-election candidate for Galway West said:

“Storm Eowyn wreaked havoc in Galway. Many homes, including my own, suffered roof damage. Across the county, just under 59,000 customers lost power initially, but 31,000 were still without power 7 days later.

Galway City's flood defence plans are at a very early stage and even in the wake of Storm Eowyn, they are not getting treated with the urgency they deserve. While most of Storm Eowyn's damage was wind damage, a similar storm at high tide would have caused an unprecedented level of flooding. The current plan to start construction in 2030 and complete by 2034 is wholly inadequate. It leaves homes at risk of flooding, and others without flood insurance.”