Army should have been called in to grit roads

CLARE County Council should have called in the Irish Defence Forces to grit impassable roads throughout East Clare, a local county councillor has claimed.

Councillor Joe Cooney told a council meeting on Monday that a quicker response was needed to make treacherous icy roads safe for motorists during the Christmas period.
Acknowledging council staff did a good job gritting national roads, Councillor Cooney admitted that some workers did put their own lives at risk trying to make some dangerous roads passable.
He added that local councillors took a “lot of stick” from frustrated residents who couldn’t get out of their own homes because of conditions.
“We had to wait two or three days after Christmas until some regional roads were gritted. Councillors’ hands were tied because we couldn’t get the grit when people wanted it.
“Local communities carried out their own works. Loads of people were willing to grit roads to get groceries back into shops. On St Stephen’s Day, you couldn’t walk or drive on some roads. I saw four cars who went into a field and we were lucky there were no lives lost.
“Thankfully, there was very little traffic on the road but some people had to go to work and there was a lot of damage caused to cars. People with jeeps had to pull cars out of ditches. All regional roads should be gritted,” he added.
He claimed that the Sixmilebridge to Clonlara road, Tulla to Bridgetown, Feakle to Scariff and Tulla roads were “only suitable for roller skates”.
Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald said the Government should have initiated a national emergency response once the ice hit a number of counties, including Clare.
He called on the Government to provide more money for the council’s gritting programme to ensure secondary roads are passable during any future freeze.
Councillor Pat Hayes complained that a national emergency was only declared by the Government when it started to snow in Dublin, despite the fact that numerous locations across the country were very badly hit by icy conditions.
The Maghera councillor recalled councillors felt powerless when they received phone calls from residents asking them how would they get out of their own homes on Christmas Day and St Stephen’s Day.
He said that local communities had to rally together to try and make regional roads passable to facilitate funerals and people with specific health needs.
“An emergency response was needed to deal with the freeze-up. It was quite difficult dealing with emotive issues from people who could not get out of their homes.
“Regional roads like the Broadford to Bridgetown road should have been part of the gritting programme. We should allocate extra funding for our winter maintenance programme,” he said.
Councillor Cathal Crowe claimed parts of South-East Clare were neglected because the council’s gritting programme for national routes didn’t take into account hill roads, cross-roads, villages and communities in upland areas.
He called for a more flexible plan to deal with extreme weather conditions in the future. “Whether it’s dealing with flooding or heavy freezing, the council must always step up to the mark – costs and overtime bills should never come into question,” he said.