Praise for council staff’s extended working days during snow crisis

Some aspects of Meath County Council's handling of the recent snow emergency came in for strong criticism from a number of councillors at this week's meeting of the council. However, council officials put up a fierce defence of their actions and rejected complaints about inaction, with one official saying: “We mightn't have done a perfect job, but we did a bloody good job.†Brendan McGrath said that while most councillors had been able to sit down to their Christmas lunch, many council staff were not in a position to do so because they were working on the crisis. The main criticisms from up to seven councillors centred on the council's communicatiomns during the crisis. Councillors criticised the emergency telephone services operated by the council and also claimed that the council's website was not updated often enough. When some hit out at the gritting service operated during the cold snap, officials reminded them that they had last year agreed to a gritting route plan presented at a council meeting. Cathaoirleach Cllr Ann Dillon Gallagher strongly supported the actions of council staff who, she said, had acted “above and beyond the call of dutyâ€. Cllr Maria Murphy also praised the council staff's actions over the Christmas period. “Their dedication and commitment to providing a service and help to those in need was unsurpassed in my experience. I was nearly embarrassed to be receiving emails from staff at 11pm at night,†she said. “Whilst most people over the holiday period could leave their job on Christmas Eve to enjoy the break, our staff rose to the challenge when it was needed,†she said. She hit out at what she termed “fairy stories†in some newspapers in relation to the situation in Dunboyne. “I will take criticism of the council when it is due but when I see residents stating in newspapers that they received no information or contact from the council and I know that in their case it was not true, I will say it plainly. My phone records and the council records will show it,†she said. She also hit out at abusive calls made by members of the public to council staff. Cllr Joe Reilly said that the weather conditions were unprecedented but he felt that there should be a review of the council's actions during the period over Christmas. He said the emergency phone system had “collapsed under pressure†and it should be either abandoned or reviewed. He said he had taken calls from all over the county, some from people with very young children. He said the water supply to some houses had stopped on Christmas Eve and yet there was no information on the Meath County Council's website. He also criticised the water distribution by tanker system. “I don't want to come in here cribbing and crying, I understand people were under pressure,†he added. However, he said that the council's communication system would have to change. Cllr Catherine Yore praised the work of the council staff in the Kells area. Cllr Brian Fitzgerald said he did not want to be criticial of anybody. He understood that the vast majority of staff had put in very long hours during the crisis. However, it was the case that the country had endured snowy periods before now and it had always been possible to get around the roads within a reasonable amount of time. He denied claims that all regional roads had been left open. There had been serious problems with water supply but he put the blame on developers who did not sink pipes deeply enough. Cllr Noel Leonard said he would not criticise the outdoor staff or engineers who had worked during the emergency. However, he expressed his disappointment with the emergency phone line. He had spoken to numerous people who could not get through on the line, and said the same situation had arisen in January 2010. He said that text messages were coming into him “which were completely inaccurateâ€. It seemed to him that the amount of water being provided to the Dunboyne area was controlled from outside (Fingal). Dealing with gritting measures during the crisis, the councillor held up a piece of hardened salt the size of a potato and said it had struck one of his constituents. He was accused by council official Eugene Cummins of “trivialising†the issue and was asked: “Did you never get a lump in flour?†Cllr Jimmy Cudden said he acknowledged thw work of the staff in the county council. He said that three officials in the Duleek office had gone so far as to clear footpaths themselves outside the office and this was action that had come in for high praise from the people of Duleek.