A Fianna Fáil county councillor has insisted on urgent support for businesses affected by Storm Éowyn.
Cllr Rita McInerney in a letter to Clare TDs, urged the public representatives to advocate for immediate financial support to aid local businesses impacted by Storm Éowyn.
While acknowledging the initial response has rightly focused on assisting homes and householders, she highlighted the urgent need to support businesses suffering significant losses in stock and trade.
“Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of our local economy, providing employment and essential services to communities across Clare.
Without targeted financial assistance, many of these businesses will struggle to recover,” she said.
In her correspondence with the Clare TDs, Cllr McInerney who is the proprietor of McInerney’s XL Shop in Doonbeg, proposed that a business support scheme be administered through Clare County Council in the form of a rate refund. She pointed out that the local authority already has the necessary mechanisms in place, having recently managed the administration of the Increased Cost of Business and Powering Up grants.
“I am calling on the Government to introduce direct grants, low-interest loans, and temporary tax relief measures to assist businesses in getting back on their feet. Additionally, investment in infrastructure resilience for our electricity, water, and telecommunications is required to protect businesses from future severe weather events.”
“I and my colleagues in Clare County Council, look forward to working with our public representatives to secure the necessary support for businesses affected by Storm Éowyn. It is vital that we act now to protect jobs, livelihoods, and the future of our local economy,” she said.
On a national government level, the Department of Social Protection’s Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (HAS) was extended last week to provide support to people whose properties are directly affected by Storm Éowyn. While it provides income-tested financial support to householders, it does not cover humanitarian aid for commercial, agriculture, or business losses.
A spokesperson for Clare County Council said they would welcome a national scheme to support business impacted in the county.
Outlining how the local authority currently operates supports for compliant small to medium business, by providing a 5% credit to customers who pay their rates annually, they said a similar scheme also operates for the hospitality sector in County Clare. And referencing the grants they already administer, they said,
“The Increased Cost of Business Scheme (ICOB) and the Power Up Grant were managed by Clare County Council on behalf of Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE). Local authorities received national funding from DETE to support all payments made.
“Clare County Council paid out over €6.1m to 2,370 businesses in the county for ICOB 1 and 2.
A further €5m was paid to 1,280 qualifying applicants for the Power Up Grant in 2024. This council would welcome any national scheme to support business impacted.”
Separately, Cllr McInerney called for a review of storm response measures, in the wake of Storm Éowyn. She emphasised the need for a comprehensive review of the storm response to assess what worked well and what areas require improvement.
She recommended the development of a structured template for handling future storms, particularly those causing widespread outages to electricity, water, and telecommunications, saying his assessment must align with the national government’s response framework to ensure an integrated approach.
She also called for innovative solutions to maintain communication networks during outages, as extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, and suggested exploring the feasibility of community-based HAM radio systems or satellite phones.
And she stressed government and relevant agencies ought to initiate a nationwide discussion on improving emergency communication systems and storm response strategies, and encouraged local communities to participate in these discussions to create a resilient and well-prepared response framework for future weather-related emergencies.
Sharon Dolan D’Arcy covers West Clare news. After completing a masters in journalism at University of Galway, Sharon worked as a court reporter at the Sligo Weekender. She was also editor of the Athenry News and Views.