|
|
 |
You are > Home > Frozen in time
|
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Frozen in time
A national response committee to deal with the weather crisis was set up last week, but only after the capital came to a standstill following a few centimeters of snow.
For three weeks the people of rural Ireland have been snowed in; many marooned in their homes; secondary roads in most areas are in a lethal condition and water supplies are at an all time low.
Of course we welcome a national response, but the question has to be asked if the snow stayed away from the East coast, would a national response to a largely rural problem have been forthcoming.
The cynics among us would say no.
To add insult to injury Transport Minister Noel Dempsey managed to get back in the country this week and made no apologies for taking his holidays in the midst of the crisis.
Of course he is entitled to a holiday and yes he does deserve family time.
However, the realities of life in public office, and particularly in the position that he holds, cannot be put to one side during a crisis.
We accept that Minister Dempsey could not have done anything about the weather. We didn’t expect him to personally grit roads.
However, his absence spoke volumes to the people of rural Ireland and his attitude and indeed the attitude of Minister John Gormley on last week’s Prime Time programme leave a lot to be desired As he breezed into Dublin at the weekend he commented: “I’m only in the country two or three hours and the thaw has set in”.
It was an attempt at humour, but the people of rural Ireland who will have to wait weeks for secondary roads and pipes to thaw properly didn’t find it funny.
Main News Page |
Previous Page
|
|
|
|
Facebook
Twitter
