Donal Hickey: Remember the 'Big Freeze' of 1963? Jog your memory with these images

Blocked roads, frozen seas, school closures... and hard work and good neighbours

ESB Networks technicians Tom Kelleher, Anthony McHugh and Leo Walsh respond to a fault on a power line in early January. They were working on a single phase 20kV line to restore electricity power to homes at Araglin, near Kilworth, County Cork. The snow-covered Knockmealdown Mountains are in the backgound. The power line came down due to the weight of snow and ice on it. Picture: Larry Cummins

The need to plan for extreme weather conditions, in a climate change era, was again underlined during the recent snowy and icy spell.

And wasn’t it eye-opening to see how isolated some people can still be in what we regard as a modern country with good communications in the 21st century!