*The Crisis Management Team meeting at Aras Contae an Chlair during Ophelia.
CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL can “step up” its communications during extreme weather events according to elected representatives.
In a proposal before Monday’s meeting of the local authority, Cllr Joe Garrihy (FG) asked the Council “to outline emergency communications policy to the public, community groups and elected representatives during emergency situations, and adverse weather events and to review this with a view to any possible improvements to ensure best possible information, advice and updates are available through a central and trusted forum”.
Acting Director of Service for Rural Development, Ann Reynolds detailed that the Council “has a Severe Weather Plan which is a sub plan of the Clare County Council Major Emergency Plan. The Council’s Severe Weather Assessment Team (SWAT) takes direction from the National Crisis Management Team of the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management (NDFEM), this includes Met Éireann, Government Departments and all affected Local Authorities in terms of appropriate actions and guidance on communications to ensure national consistency of public messaging across the affected areas in times of severe weather events”.
She said, “Effective communication with the public and the media is vital to the successful handling of Severe weather Incidents. The key objective is to deliver accurate, clear and timely advice to the public and the media at speed so that the public can feel confident, safe and well informed during an incident”. She added, “The Council continues to review its procedures with regard to severe weather events”.
During the course of Storm Darragh this weekend, Clare County Council did not issue a single press release to the media despite Reynolds’ comment that the local authority deliver advise via the media “at speed”. Four social media posts were shared on Instagram and X/Twitter, seven on Facebook some of which were duplicated.
Speaking at Monday’s meeting, Cllr Garrihy admitted, “I didn’t realise the weather would turn so bad when I tabled the motion”. He heralded the contribution of all frontline workers who were out during “serious inclement and dangerous weather conditions” to try help the wider general public. “My motion is about education for ourselves, there seems to be a recognition that we deal with this on an ongoing basis and more often,” he said.
Lisdoonvarna based Garrihy referenced the “top class minute by minute coverage of the elections by our media and how that got out to the public” as an example that could be followed for communications during extreme weather events. He suggested there was merit in councillors “getting a bit more training on the communications, maybe there is value for us having a workshop and in the days we live in with really connected forums of communication”. He acknowledged, “it is a very live event so you can be wrong in an hour’s time, it might be worth us all getting together. We have a lot of text alerts and how to pull them all together is key, to get a trusted forum in the world we live in”.
Seconding the proposal, Cllr Ian Lynch (IND) acknowledged the contributions of response of the emergency services in Clare for Storm Darragh. “I get Joe’s point but the priority is to get to the scene and sort it out”. He felt it was worth exploring ways to improve communications. Cllr Pat O’Gorman (FF) noted that local farmers also played a key role in making roads passable.
Recalling that he was preparing to begin a night shift with An Post during Storm Darragh, Cllr Tommy Guilfoyle (SF) said, “I’m on nights for Christmas, I was driving down the Clonroad and I swerved to avoid a tree at 02:05, I rang 999 and the fire brigade came, chopped up the tree and took it off the road”. He said he was without power for two days and pointed out that “a lot of younger people get their information on social media, the interaction is massive, I kept looking for Clare County Council’s posts on social media with the emergency numbers and I didn’t find it, we can step up our online performance in the event of an emergency”.
Nobody should have been out on the road during the Storm, Cllr Michael Shannon (FF) stated in response. “I left my house after it was relaxed, we are not insured to drive during red warning. I’ve never driven in a red warning in my life,” Cllr Guilfoyle retorted. “A red warning means stay inside and be safe, there should be very few people out during red warnings only the emergency services,” Cllr Shannon replied.
Often the public will forget to report incidents after flagging the matters with politicians on social media, Cllr Antoinette Baker Bashua (FF) noted, “sometimes social media is used for people to report to and not the proper authorities”. “I thought this weekend I was an hour behind everyone else, Mary (Howard) seemed to be an hour ahead of me and I was wondering where she was getting her information from”. Social media should be treated like a ‘loaded gun’, Mayor of Clare, Cllr Alan O’Callaghan (FF) maintained, “we need to treat every road and situation as dangerous during a red warning”.
Chief Executive of Clare County Council, Pat Dowling remarked, “Whatever about the public engaging in major emergencies and weather events, we’ve to be cognisant, we’ve a tried and tested major emergency plan in this country”. He said a multi-agency approach is already in place. “We have our own protocols on the ground, they kick into action any time there is a major hazard or danger, there is no system that will take care of that”. The current system is “broadly successful,” he believed, “the protection of life is paramount”.
Councillors “should be the first port of call so that we have our social media to get the same message to everyone,” suggested Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF). “It is very important that it comes to us all so that we can pass on the message to our constituents,” Cllr John Crowe (FG) commented.
