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LAST UPDATE | 27 Jan
SINN FÉIN LEADER Mary Lou McDonald has written to the Taoiseach urging him to reconvene Dáil Éireann after storm Éowyn.
Around 100,000 people are still without water while close to 250,000 people are still without power across the country after the storm struck on Friday.
ESB say the vast majority of those impacted by Storm Éowyn will have their supply restored by Friday, however it expects that around 100,000 customers will have to wait until the following week.
Dáil Éireann is not sitting this week, as is normal practice after a new government has been put in place, to allow the new ministers get to grips with their new briefs.
However given the widespread disruption following Friday’s storm, Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, Aontú and Independent Ireland have all called for the Dáil to get back to business sooner.
Minister for Transport and the Environment Darragh O’Brien pushed back on the calls, arguing this afternoon that people shouldn’t be trying to “politicise” the storm.
“No speech in Dáil Éireann is going to restore power or water or assist a community,” O’Brien said this afternoon.
He added that at a political level, the government is providing “whatever support is needed.”
“TDs must be given the opportunity to raise these issues and concerns directly with government and to engage on the responses and supports needed,” McDonald said on X.
In a statement, acting leader of the Social Democrats Cian O’Callaghan said it “beggars belief that, in the midst of this crisis, there are no plans for the Dáil to sit.”
O’Callaghan said families and communities are being left to pick up the pieces following the storm, which was one of the most powerful and damaging wind events to hit the country in nearly 200 years.
He said it is “critical” that the Dáil sits to discuss emergency supports.
Likewise, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín also called for the Dáil to be recalled.
The Meath West TD said that despite the efforts of ESB and its staff, the reconnection of electricity is “not nearly fast enough”, adding that it is “incredible” that the Dáil is not sitting “at this time of crisis”.
“We have received so many reports of older people and people with disabilities living in homes without any power or water. Many businesses still can’t reopen. There is growing frustration amongst people at the slow pace of reconnection,” Tóibín said in a statement.
“The government is the administration of this country. How can the Dáil administer anything if it’s not sitting. How can TDs properly hold the government to account if it’s not even meeting?” he asked.
Independent Ireland leader Micheal Collins also called for the Dáil to reconvene and said the government had failed to prepare and respond effectively for the storm, leaving communities in “chaos”.
“Families are enduring freezing temperatures without heating, and essential services are disrupted. This is unacceptable,” the Cork South West TD said.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme earlier today, Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary said that Taoiseach Micheál Martin is “very much” involved in the government’s response to the storm despite being out of the country currently.
Martin is in Poland today for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
“He has to be at that ceremony, it is a hugely important ceremony,” Calleary said.
Calleary said the government is doing all it can do get people reconnected. He said he will be on the ground in areas across the west and north west today and tomorrow, and will be bringing a report to Cabinet on Wednesday morning direct from the areas affected.
“I can assure you we are not on holidays,” Calleary said.
“Rather than making statements in the Dáil, I will be on the ground getting direct experience.”
Calleary added that the National Emergency Coordination Group is meeting every day.
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Crazy that they are not working and on holidays again,Mary Lou McDonald is completely correct on this issue
@Jb Walshe: do we really need to have another sitting of the Dail to ensure work progresses?
@Alan: that’s what they get paid for Alan,when I’m not in work I don’t get paid
@Alan: Yes, we do
@Jb Walshe: You cannot seriously believe if a TD isn’t in the Dail, they’re not working.
@Jb Walshe: But she’s on holidays too.
@Tricia G28: Oh that’s exactly what he believes.
@Jb Walshe: they are not on holiday.
It’s better that the new ministers are in their departments not in the Dail listening to Mary Lou grandstand
@Jb Walshe: too busy preparing a speech for the world to listen to him. not a word from our so called leaders to support people.
last concern for them now they are elected again.
@Alan: yes
@Herby Donnelly: why?
@Jb Walshe: TDs are and will be down in their Constituency offices . Ministers will be away working into their office . Many will be in Leinster House. No need for the grandstanding circus talking . Do action. Most action is done outside the Chamber
@Val O’Connell: I’d say MM and Co have completed many a grubby stroke in the Dail toilets,
.
@Jb Walshe: they are not on holidays.
@Jb Walshe: What would a sitting Dail do right now that isn’t already being done…
This is about politising a disaster and Sinn fein should be embarrassed.
Yes, have an enquiry afterwards to see if we can improve our response. What can we do and if it is economical.
This is just political grandstanding..
@Alan: just plenty of roaring & shouting it is been cordonated as it is,
@Alan: yes
@Alan: No.
@Jb Walshe: Do you work in one place as TDs work in a number of locations.
They are not in the Dail but they are working!
If they come back early can they please throw lowery into the forty foot….
@David Cotter: at least get his name right. It’s Lowry.
@David Cotter: have you been calling out Lowry for the last 20 years???
@Harry Paisley: shut tf up
@Philip Kennedy: Lowry should have done a few years in prison for his role in awarding the second mobile phone contract to DoB, in fact the two of them should have done time. I can’t understand how Lowry is so welcomed by FF & FG because they know he’s a crook yet they bow to his every wish, what is it that has led to him having such a hold over FFG ?
@Harry Paisley: think of a faceless weirdo from the internet who gets his thrills from talking rubbish all day, eh no. Get a job
@Philip Kennedy: it is LOWery.
@Philip Kennedy: Philip, I think David was referring to the latest allegation against Lowry in the Ditch – he allegedly put an e in his surname to draw attention away from an investment he didn’t declare!!
@Philip Kennedy: He doesn’t always spell it as LOWRY. Go read the ditch and you’ll find out all about it.
How about putting utility cables, pipes etc. underground. I have lived in Germany for about 50 years. Most if not all are underground. It does rain here as well!
@Eamonn Ferry: because the cost would be prohibitive due to the fact that we have one of the longest road networks for a country of our size and have very scattered low density housing with the amount of one off housing down every boreen.
Having said that it is something that should be done alongside the roll out of the national broadband plan, presuming they’re digging trenches to pay the fibre(which they’re probably not doing)
@Eamonn Ferry: I wonder would the €1b overspend to date on the yet to be opened new Children’s hospital have covered that Eamonn.
It’s one cushy number this crowd are on. If you were running a private business like this bunch run you’d be out of business very quickly. But nobody to blame but the fine people who elected them back in. What did you think was going to happen the board would sack the lot of them if it was a privately run organisation
@Martin Ridge: But the government isn’t a private company, and comparisons to it are useless. TDS were returned in a free democratic election, and the majority of those TDs then voted for the new government.
This has been the cornerstone of our democracy for over 100 years . People are entitled to vote for whoever they want. People like you don’t like that as it’s not what you want , people like you are the real problem in this country.
@Martin Ridge: you’re a barstool bore.
@Paul O’Mahoney: It is a cushy number, the amount of school teachers who entered politics because they couldn’t deal with classrooms of 40 children is crazy and always has been down the years so yes, if those crooks in government had any notion of decency they’d stop short their two weeks of jollies and tell the people what their plans are for speeding up repairs and what measures they will put in place to alleviate the damage from future storms and what financial assistance they will provide to those that had their properties damaged. That is what a caring government would do.
@Mr Inbetween: They didn’t enter the Dail they were elected by citizens of our country. What background they are from is irrelevant. If its such a cushy number why don’t you run? This lazy narrative is spewed out constantly by Internet experts when they have nothing to say.
@Paul O’Mahoney: people like you are fools to think this was going to work these TD,s that you mention aren’t fit for purpose look around ya open your bloody eyes
@Paul O’Mahoney: When they have nothing to say or do.
@Martin Ridge: . Put yourself up for election and see how you do and give your two thumbs a rest.
@Martin Ridge: The only fool I see is you, you seem to have a very limited understanding of our democracy, and you’re not the only one. Our democracy has been fought for with thousands of lives lost, you have the right to say what you want, irrespective of how unintelligent it is. You do not speak for the majority as shown by the electorate, I didn’t vote for them btw, but if you can’t respect your country’s democracy you simply aren’t an Irishman.
@Martin Ridge: Except you cannot run a government like a private company. It has been tried and failed. It is going to be tried again and will fail again in the US!
@Mr Inbetween: What exactly do you think a bunch of politicians can do, that is not been done already.
They could slow down the process by calling people in for meetings etc,
God love them they need some time of after making a big decision of who was going to be in government… in other news today still 300 thousand without power/heating there homes and work place.
@Paul Maguire: and the dail sitting will fix this?
@Paul Maguire: Who said they are off work! They are working in their communities right now, others are working on settling into new positions in government and opposition members setting themselves up to shadow ministers.
No need there 2 weeks of
The storm is now the governments fault?
There is a real effort from the opposition over the past 5 years that if anything goes wrong it’s the gov fault.
@John Purcell: Yep that’s the way the opposition does it’s work nowadays, no effort in opposing the government with alternatives to the issues, just pointing fingers and shouting. No wonder FFG are back in Government the opposition isn’t capable in the eyes of the electorate.
@Paul O’Mahoney: Yup…FF or FG never pointed fingers when they were not in government, just constructive criticism, give over will you!
@John Purcell: who said it was the governments fault? The reaction to the events or lack of progress is their fault
@damien leen: So, you’re happy with the coalition and how it does its business?
@John Purcell: Peader Tobin saying the ESB are not working fast enough, I saw crews working in the fields replacing polls up to 10:30 last night.
@Liam23: It’s their job.
@John Purcell: You seem to be having problems comprehending the article. NOBODY said the STORM was the governments fault. Sinn Fein have called on the government to recall the Dail in the wake of the storm to help our fellow citizens deal with the traumatic aftermath and to ensure all services etc are restored asap.
@Mr Inbetween: But isn’t this happening, I know a linesman and he hasn’t seen his children for 3 day’s, what exactly would the Dail do ?
@Paul O’Mahoney: Recall the Dail, government should be in situe after the worst storm in history, they’ve only just come back from the Christmas holidays and now they’re off for another two weeks? They’ve let themselves down and it took an opposition TD to shame them.
@Mr Inbetween: So they all sit around talking while people are getting on with restoration of power and water. Talking doesn’t achieve much. Every time there’s a weather warning, huge numbers dismiss them now, a truly historic storm arrives, and it’s the government’s fault, so get into the Dail and talk……can you not see the flaws in your argument.
@Paul O’Mahoney: I blame the Greens, if only they’d warned us 30 years ago about the repecussions of climate change.. Oh wait…
@Mr Inbetween: you may as well be talking to the floor as some of the commenters and trolls on here…Of course they should be working,isn’t that what they get paid for !! Any wonder this country is a laughing stock around the world with the corrupt mob that runs the place
@Jb Walshe: we are not a laughing stock around the world, where did you get that daft idea from?
@Dermot Blaine: True dat. Feck sake they should have run for election and tried to get us to think differently about the damage that humans are doing to the planet.
@Jb Walshe: Such eloquence.
@Joe Beirne: What reaction do you want, thoughts and prayers like they do in the US.
What more can they do but leave the experts working on the problems alone to fix it. making sure they have everything they need.
Which is we are told is what they are doing!
thats the kind of yolks people voted back in lazy shower of money grabbing dics that dont give one shet about the country or the people
Why?! What does yelling across a chamber achieve when people should be out coordinating assistance etc. in their own Constituencies.
This smacks of “we’re going to continue having meetings until we find out why no work is being done”.
@Tricia G28: Party Politically motivated opposition would call in all the electricians to HQ to shout at one another and to hell with the actual work.
@Tricia G28: I’m watching the News right now and there are 10′s of thousands of people who are in the dark literally, no power and no communication from the government on what their plans are.
@Mr Inbetween: It’s simple restore electricity and power as fast as possible.
@Mr Inbetween: They have said what they are doing and there are reports almost hourly of what is happening!
I’m not sure how recalling the Dáil will expedite the repair work being done on a huge scale across the country. Is this another example of the much vaunted ‘effective opposition’? Jesus wept.
@honey badger: Had they arrived in hi-viz jackets ready to help we might be impressed.
@Paul O’Mahoney: Don’t forget your shovel…
One has to assume that the departments affected will continue working during this crisis to assist those in need of help. It’s probably best that the suits without experience are only allowed at the many photo shoots, and kept at arms length from making a further dogs dinner of things.
@Paul Linehan: which they are, the relevant Ministers have been cordonating since the storm What exactly would they do in the Dail ?
Hot air from the Dail chamber won’t exactly get the electricity working again
Populist nonsense from the opposition
A crew who are breaking their backs won’t work any quicker because Mary Lou shouts across the chamber
Pathetic populism from MLMC. Come back and shout and roar at each other. This achieves a lot
Opposition view their only roll as opposing the incumbent government instead of trying to enlighten and explore alternative view points- surely they could listen back to their own speeches and realise how petit their mindset is
@oisin o’connell: Ah here , there’s no place for that constructive statement around here.
@oisin o’connell: The Journal comments section is like St. Clabbert’s Hospital in “Father Ted” – one crazy after another until you get to one sensible individual who “really shouldn’t be here!”
Let the government and the civil service do their job. They know what to do and do not need grandstanding populist rubbish from the opposition. By all means hold sessions about how to tackle the problems, later. No need to reconvene. Not when these thugs turned the Dáil into a circus last week
What possible use to the ESB is a load of hot air as windbags in the Dáil debate the results of the storm? They’ve been in touch with the EU to send emergency aid and generators. Listening to Mary Lou grandstanding definitely won’t help
Surprise surprise Mary Lou trying to make political capital out of peoples misfortune. The grown ups are dealing with it Mary stop trying to create more problems.
Yes. Get them to stop all that they’re doing and bring them to Kildare St to argue and point fingers. A much more productive approach.
What possible use to the ESB is a load of hot air as windbags in the Dáil debate the results of the storm? They’ve been in touch with the EU to send emergency aid and generators. Listening to Mary Lou grandstanding definitely won’t help
‘How are we supposed to get content of us shouting, interrupting and saying “Ridiculous, Minister” for X and TikTok to keep our engagement up when these effers are trying to get to grips with their new departments??’
What in the name of god can any politician do about the effects and aftermath of a storm ….. Nothing…. The Shinners sprouting pure rubbish again
It’s absolutely embarrassing how much holiday time our elected officials get to take off while still on the taxpayer dime. The Dáil should only be allowed to go on recess for two months during the Summer and for the Christmas break. Other than that, they should be in working just like the rest of the people in Ireland which they supposedly “represent.” Has a single TD visited the people of West Mayo to offer their support and some portable power generators to them since their power is still out and will be until at least Thursday we are told? What about the fact that there are nearly 15,000 homeless people, thousands of illegal immigrants entering Ireland every month without any background checks and a national debt that grows bigger every year?
@William Jennings: Yes is the answer to all your questions. TDS are all over Mayo, generators in use everywhere possible, public buildings open, ESB working day and night. But your whinge has been a huge help. Thanks
@William Jennings: didn’t bother reading your short story but be aware government holidays are not spent on the beach, most TDs continue working locally, particularly in the aftermath of a giant storm. Give over.
@William Jennings: The same old tired rhetoric William but If it keeps you happy like Mary Lou keep talking to your oversized Ego
@Sean Hayes: So you support 15,000 homeless people, illegal immigration and increasing our national debt then by your own admission? Good to know Sean. By the way, show the evidence that there has been even one TD on the scene helping with the relief efforts because I haven’t seen a single piece of evidence that they have been. ESB hasn’t done a good job at all, they’ve been twiddling their thumbs as usual and we’ve had to get emergency generators from European countries because they hadn’t stocked up our inventory properly and 250,000 people are still without power. Sure though, you keep your head buried in the sand and continue to delude yourself and believe that everything is okay.
@Tim Brennan: No ego Tim, only the truth. I have just as much contempt for the idiots in Sinn Fein as I do for the idiots in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. They are all as bad as each other. By the way, you haven’t provided any coherent rebuttal to the points I made. Is that because you know I’m right?
@Hotirish: Show me where I said that they spend their holidays on the beach above. Oh right, by your own admission you didn’t bother to read what I said and then you think you can just respond and spout nonsensical lies. You know right well that the vast majority of our elected officials do not spend time working with the local community when they are on recess. If they did, we wouldn’t have such unresponsive and incompetent members of the Dáil who ignore requests from their constituents for certain legislation to be tabled and don’t hold any town halls to be openly questioned on their decision making and political positions. Give your head a shake.
@William Jennings: So you like “Thoughts and Prayers” line the US politicians use. Strange as it changes nothing!
Do you not think if politicians had spare generators lying about they would not be giving them to people.
So what has immigration or national debt or homelessness got to do with the recovery from the storm? Nothing but you want to point the finger anyway!
@Sean Hayes: He feels better for it anyway!
@William Jennings: So the ESB staff working 16 hour days and the other people working on storm repairs are not doing anything!
The storm beat all records, not a thing you can plan for.
Look \t the local press or at the local TDs websites.
The inventory was stocked correctly but not for an unprecedented storm like this. All the countries hit by this storm are in the same position.
@William Jennings: I happen to know politicians from the west and they do work with the local communities as all TDs do.
You have a bee in your bonnet with politicians and you really want to release it.
TDs do nothing, because a once in a lifetime storm, which was impossible to prepare for with reasonable certainty, has happened. Politicians are all at fault!
Fair play as always she’s like the howling dog no matter what you feed it with it will continue barking. The same old rubbish from the opposition benches at least she has huge experience howling from the sidelines and will continue to do so thankfully
She wants them in so they can shout their heads off again.
Nobody takes Mary Loo seriously anymore. Continuously spouting populist noise.
And good are they gonna do…more and more spoofing.
Pander. Pander. Pander.
Where are FFG
She will use anything at all as a political tool
have your say