Community spirit 'keeping people alive' as elderly freeze in homes with no power or water

Dinner by candlelight for Stephen Murphy in Ardagh, Co Limerick. Picture: Bridie Murphy

It is dinner by candlelight for some, but others are freezing in their own homes and melting snow for drinking water as hundreds of people in snow-bound rural areas face several more days without power and water.

While Bridie and Stephen Murphy, who live in Ardagh, Co Limerick, have coped thanks to good preparations, nurse Lisa Cox, in Brosna, Co Kerry, said it feels like her village, which has been without power and water since Sunday, has been forgotten.