For rural Ireland, 2025 has been dubbed 'the year of the Meitheal'
Workers push fallen trees trees to clear the road on the main N83 after Storm Éowyn. Photo: Ray Ryan
It is only seven weeks old, but 2025 is already being dubbed 'the year of the Meitheal' across rural Ireland because of the inspiring community response to two major storms that battered the country.
Many tributes were paid in the Dáil to the emergency services, including ESB and Uisce Eireann crews, local authorities and other statutory bodies for their tireless work in the aftermath of the storms.
But there were also criticisms of the Government's response to the emergency, which left a trail of destruction and resulted in communities being left without electricity, water and heat for up to three weeks in some cases.
Brian Brennan (FG), Wicklow-Wexford, said farmers “stood up to the mark” by clearing trees, helping elderly neighbours or bringing food to those who needed it. “That community was again the first to put on the green shirt,” he said.
Mark Wall (Lab), Kildare South, said GAA clubs opened their doors, offering food, power and showering facilities to members and non-members alike.
Describing them as the heartbeats of our communities, he said there are over 2,000 GAA clubs on the island, and the Government needs to work with them and their parent organisation to ensure they are ready for such events.
“We must ensure that each club has a working modern generator. That would greatly assist many communities in the aftermath of such an event in the future,” he said.
Noting there was between 16 and 20 inches of snow in some parts of Duhallow in north Cork after the first storm, Minister of State Michael Moynihan said the farming community rose to the challenge in terms of putting their machinery at the disposal of the community.
“There was a massive community effort by everybody to try to clear roads. Many houses were cut off for the bones of a week. There was isolation and fear. They were not just without power, but also without water,” he said, praising the meitheal ideal of supporting each other.
Minister Moynihan said a protocol involving local authorities, Government and State agencies and everybody needs to be put in place for weather events.
Matt Carthy (SF), Cavan Monaghan, said there is real anger from some sections of communities. The extent to which phone signal, electricity and water was lost was unprecedented.
He said:
Seamus Healy (Ind), Tipperary South, said the State was clearly unprepared for Storm Éowyn and its aftermath. “To deal with events like this in the future, we need a task force that includes all stakeholders,” he said.
Martin Daly (FF), Roscommon Galway, said the storm exposed systemic weaknesses that must be addressed, while Michael Collins (Ind Ireland), Cork SouthWest, said the Government’s response was appallingly slow.
Minister of State Jerry Buttimer, responding to one of the debates, said the breadth of the contributions spoke to the scale of the impact of Storm Éowyn, a hurricane-type event, with winds of 180 km/h. The work of the National Emergency Co-ordination Group, in proclaiming a red weather warning, helped saved lives.
He thanked the emergency services, local authority workers, ESB international and local crews, and the volunteers involved in helping with the recovery, while noting the length of time some people had been affected was far longer than had been hoped.
“We can see the impact it is having on families and communities, throughout the west and northwest in particular, and every one of us regrets its impact and the suffering and hardship it has caused to people,” he said.
Noting that community and voluntary groups and others worked tirelessly with local government officials to provide basic services for those in need, he said the meitheal in the country still works.
“We have seen time and again the power of community and of the spirit of the people, and when it is challenged, our people rise. The difficulties, from covid to the various storms, have brought the best out of our people, and I thank them,” he said.
Describing farmers as unsung heroes in rural communities, he thanked them for the support and help they gave to so many of their neighbours. Equally, volunteers in communities and centres worked to make life better for people in the worst affected counties.
The Dáil debate illustrated the importance of reflecting upon what did not work so well, he said, pledging that the Government will learn from the response.
He said it will take on board some of the views expressed and work with members to ensure its response in the future will override the difficulties that had been seen such as resilience of the infrastructure, availability and prioritisation of equipment such as generators, and forward planning for the provision of emergency hubs in advance of future extreme events.
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