Special report
Almost a week on, the people of County Roscommon and the people of Ireland are still dealing with the fallout of Storm Éowyn.
Early last Friday morning, January 24th, a Status Red wind warning came into effect for the whole island of Ireland as the nation braced for what was predicted to be the worst storm to hit the island on record.
According to meteorologists at Met Éireann, the storm was the worst on record going by every metric since meteorological records began. Ireland’s western seaboard and midland counties, including Roscommon, bore the brunt of the force of the storm.
Roscommon has been one of the most badly affected counties in the country. Taoiseach Micheál Martin visited the county on Tuesday to meet members of the public and emergency responders.
Deputy Martin visited the Emergency Response Hub (ERH) set up to provide the public with access to basic services in D’Gaff Community Centre on Barrack Street in Castlerea, met with firefighters in Ballaghaderreen and also visited the ERH at St Brigid’s GAA Centre in Kiltoom.
Storm Éowyn struck with gusts measuring up to 183 km/h and caused widespread damage to property including homes, businesses and community facilities. Sadly it also led to the loss of one life, with 20-year-old Kacper Dudek in Donegal being killed when his car was hit by a falling tree as he returned home from work on Friday morning.
Widespread power outages and mass disruption to telecommunication services continue across the county and the country as the Roscommon People goes to print on Wednesday evening.
There was extensive property damage reported across Roscommon and in surrounding counties with damage to family homes, farm buildings, businesses and community facilities being widespread. The 300-year-old Elphin Windmill was damaged, with its iconic sails being ripped from the structure in the high winds.
Extensive damage
The storm also downed hundreds of trees across the county with extensive damage reported at the Demesne in Castlerea, Loughnaneane Park in Roscommon Town, Mote Park outside of Roscommon Town, and at Roscommon Golf Club, where dozens of trees were damaged.
According to Club Captain Robert McConn, Roscommon Golf Club saw between 70 and 100 trees being downed on the course and in the woods. But there has been a massive volunteer response and thankfully there was no major structural damage to the course infrastructure such as greens and tee boxes. It is hoped to have a limited number of holes playable on a restricted basis by this weekend.
According to Eilish Feeley of the Mote Park Conservation Group, Coillte began work on harvesting damaged trees at Mote Park on Tuesday morning.
Castlerea Towns Trust said it was devastated to witness the huge amount of damage to the town’s Demesne in the wake of Storm Éowyn.
“Surveying the damage on Friday morning was truly heartbreaking,” said Trust Chairperson Liam Scahill.
In Ballyhaunis, the €3.1m Connacht GAA Air Dome was destroyed by the storm.
In Roscommon Town, there was significant damage caused to a family home on the Athlone Road (see separate story).
Across Roscommon, roofs were blown off farm buildings. The Irish Farmers’ Association said that the storm had “wreaked havoc across the country”.
Disruption and initial response
Roscommon County Council, ESB Networks, Uisce Éireann and Irish Rail have been working around the clock since Storm Éowyn hit on Friday to undo the disruption caused to local power supplies, water supplies, road networks and rail networks.
Nationally, ESB Networks reported 768,000 customers had been hit with power outages. Virtually all local and regional road networks were affected by fallen trees.
Mobile phone customers across Roscommon, East Galway and West Longford continued to report disruption to phone and internet services as the Roscommon People went to print on Wednesday evening and approximately 9,000 customers in County Roscommon and surrounding areas remain without power. The majority of these are scheduled to have power restored by Friday, January 31st, but some customers in more remote areas are being given estimates as far out as February 5th in relation to when they can expect to have power restored.
In the initial days following Storm Éowyn, restoration efforts were slowed significantly by damage to the telecommunication networks, with phone and broadband services taking multiple days to be restored across the country. Over the weekend, continued severe weather also slowed the initial response.
On Friday, Roscommon County Council’s phone services were down and many thousands of residents were left without phone or internet service to check for updates.
Ireland West Airport Knock was non-operational from 4 am until 1 pm on Friday with normal service not being restored until later that day, as the knock-on effects of the storm continued to impact on flight schedules.
Community hubs
Monday saw the scheduled monthly meeting of Roscommon County Council going ahead. Members of the council were advised that the local authority was at the time working with approximately 15 community groups (this number has since more than doubled) around the county to set up hubs where people can access basic services such as water, food, phone charging, broadband access and showering facilities.
The groups involved will be assisted financially by the local authority.
On Tuesday, it was announced that power restoration efforts were receiving an international boost as it was confirmed that the European Commission would supply 17 power generators to Ireland and support crews from the Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Finland and the UK began arriving to support ESB Networks’ power supply restoration efforts.
Rail services in the west continued to be affected through to Tuesday with the Ballina/Westport routes impacted due to ongoing widespread power outages.
As we go to print on Wednesday, the number of organisations providing community hubs for those affected by ongoing power outages in Roscommon has grown to over 30. That’s according to Roscommon County Council’s website where a full listing of the hubs and the services available at each one are detailed. Many of the hubs are offering showering facilities and Wi-Fi access to the public free of charge.
Local communities rallying together
As residents of Roscommon and surrounding areas continue to reel from the effects of Storm Éowyn, communities and businesses across the country have rallied to support those most impacted.
A Local Co-Ordination Group led by Roscommon County Council and including input from community organisations has seen communities the length and breadth of Roscommon rally together to ensure those worst affected by Storm Éowyn can access basics such as water, hot food, showering facilities, and broadband access.
Towns, villages and townlands across west Roscommon and East Galway such as Loughglynn, Castlerea, Ballaghaderreen, Glenamaddy, Creggs and Williamstown have been some of the worst-hit areas, many of them facing days-long water and power outages. Over the weekend, local group water schemes worked tirelessly to get generators in place at water scheme pump stations to restore water supplies to rural areas.
As water outages continue across the region, alternative water supplies have been deployed in Williamstown, Ballinameen, Boyle, and Castlerea with boil water advisories. Additionally, boil water notices remain active in numerous areas across west and north Roscommon in the aftermath of the storm.
Local volunteers, in conjunction with Roscommon and Galway County Council crews, worked to clear trees from the local road networks on Friday and through the weekend.
Hospitality
Hannon’s Hotel in Roscommon Town offered free accommodation to staff working at Roscommon University Hospital on Thursday and Friday.
When contacted by the Roscommon People, Damien Hannon told us that they accommodated approximately 25 hospital employees on Thursday night but suffered total loss of power, gas, heat and phone service following the storm and had to close on Friday night. They reopened on Saturday following the restoration of power and like many hotels in the county have been providing accommodation to ESB Networks crews and essential workers.
Geraldine Grealy, Marketing Manager at the Abbey Hotel located in the Abbeytown area of Roscommon Town, noted that the hotel was fortunate to have had a generator in place and could provide services to the public throughout the storm and recovery periods. While their phone and internet services were impacted temporarily, they were able to continue to trade.
“We were glad to be able to provide local healthcare workers, remote workers and families with small children with a warm, safe haven during the storm and in the days since. Members of the public are welcome to charge their phones, medical devices, store medicines and avail of meals,” Ms Grealy told the Roscommon People. “We have to acknowledge the tremendous support of our hard-working staff, without whom we would not have been able to provide these essential services during the storm and in its aftermath”.
Ann Dalton (90) left her home in Knockcroghery on Sunday and checked into the Abbey Hotel to avail of the comfort.
“There’s great comfort… I was living by candlelight at home after the storm. No electricity, no phones, no television, no internet. Every hotel in the town was booked out Friday and Saturday”.
Speaking to the Roscommon People, Ms Dalton said she hoped to be able to return home as soon as possible but quipped that she wouldn’t mind hotel living for a month if she had to, as long as her friend didn’t mind feeding her four adopted cats!
Businesses impacted
Across the region, dozens of businesses faced prolonged power outages with the disruptions causing longer than expected closures. The impact of extended closures is being felt mainly in rural areas with some suburban areas also affected.
The Abbeytown area of Roscommon Town endured some of the most prolonged power outages in the county town with power being restored to the main commercial area of the suburb on Tuesday.
Declan Molloy of Molloy’s Bakery spoke to the Roscommon People and despite being without power until Tuesday, he highlighted the exemplary effort and work of ESB workers, some of whom he had been speaking with over the weekend. Mr Molloy added: “Thanks to the hard work of staff we were able to fulfil essential pre-orders ahead of the weekend but unfortunately we lost out on the weekend’s trade and a fair bit of stock”.
Mr Molloy noted that because storms and power outages are becoming more frequent, they will have to “seriously consider” acquiring an industrial-scale generator to run the substantial bakery operation during future power outages: “We reckon a 110KVA would be the minimum we’d need, and we have started seeking tenders”.
In Dromod, Cox’s Steakhouse was temporarily closed following damage caused to their gas tanks by falling trees during Storm Éowyn and continued power outages. However, the establishment was due to reopen today (Thursday) following restoration of power on Wednesday. The Cox family has directed local people in need of charging facilities to their nursing home, Shannon Lodge, in Rooskey.
The Brandywell and The Copper Still restaurants have reopened following the storm and are providing charging facilities to the public.
Elphin Mart was closed on Monday, again due to an ongoing power outage. Multiple schools across Roscommon that are impacted by continued power outages have also remained closed in the early part of this week.
GAA Air Dome
Connacht GAA’s Air Dome was destroyed by the high-speed winds, as the destructive Storm Éowyn levelled the €3.1m facility near Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo.
The Air Dome was officially opened in January 2022 and has hosted GAA games at inter-county, school, club and college levels. The venue is used extensively by teams around Connacht. Mercy College Roscommon won a Connacht title there the day before the storm (see page 36).
Connacht GAA members had checked the site at 2.30 am on the night of the storm; however, Connacht GAA confirmed that there were thankfully no members of staff onsite when the damage occurred, and no injuries had been reported.
Connacht GAA said: “Thanks to everyone for their support. It is our full intention to rebuild this magnificent facility as soon as possible”.
The Roscommon People remains committed to supporting all those affected by Storm Éowyn and we hope all businesses and community groups can get back to operating at full capacity as soon as possible.
If you have a story to share about the impact Storm Éowyn has had on you or your business/community group, please contact news@roscommonpeople.ie.
