Mattie McGrath Proposes Village Hubs and Generator Grants
Mattie McGrath spoke about emergency response and community resilience, praising emergency workers and the ESP and urging action to equip village hubs with generators. He called for hubs to provide phone charging, showers and practical support and stressed the need for tree clearance and road access to restore power in remote areas.
He thanked emergency workers from across the country and from Northern Ireland and singled out the ESP for their work in difficult situations, saying they always do their best.
He proposed setting up hubs in community halls across villages, noting meetings with a teacher about using local halls and work spaces. He argued one central hub could serve half a parish for charging phones, providing showers and addressing other practical needs.
He said communities should be equipped and that grants should be provided to purchase generators so local hubs can support residents during outages and emergencies.
He praised farmers who helped clear trees and reopen roads after storms, saying they showed care for their communities while stressing the need for caution and experience in that work.
He warned that health and safety should not be forgotten but recognised people were careful around falling wires. He stressed that ESP lines through forestry must be maintained and that overhanging roadside trees should be cut back to prevent future incidents.
He expressed sympathy for those still without power in remote areas and recalled a personal incident of a tree falling on him while he was travelling with his late mother and brother, underscoring the danger of unchecked trees.
Emergency worker praise
He thanked emergency workers from across the country and from Northern Ireland and singled out the ESP for their work in difficult situations, saying they always do their best.
Proposal for village hubs
He proposed setting up hubs in community halls across villages, noting meetings with a teacher about using local halls and work spaces. He argued one central hub could serve half a parish for charging phones, providing showers and addressing other practical needs.
Grant scheme for generators
He said communities should be equipped and that grants should be provided to purchase generators so local hubs can support residents during outages and emergencies.
Community response and farmers' role
He praised farmers who helped clear trees and reopen roads after storms, saying they showed care for their communities while stressing the need for caution and experience in that work.
Safety, lines and tree maintenance
He warned that health and safety should not be forgotten but recognised people were careful around falling wires. He stressed that ESP lines through forestry must be maintained and that overhanging roadside trees should be cut back to prevent future incidents.
Personal sympathy and experience
He expressed sympathy for those still without power in remote areas and recalled a personal incident of a tree falling on him while he was travelling with his late mother and brother, underscoring the danger of unchecked trees.
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Transcript
I too want to thank and praise the emergency workers from all over the country and from overseas in Northern Ireland and all the emergency workers, especially the ESP. And the ESP always do their best in all kinds of trying situations. And I think we're going to have to seriously examine this. I spoke to the teacher about it regarding having, you know, hubs set up in most villages have either J Hall, Community Hall and Ruddy Mershin. And they have, many of them now have, as you know, spaces for working from local hubs and everything else. So we're going to have to equip these people, I'll give them grants to purchase generators. Because one central hub could look after half the parish as regards charging phones, as regards showers, as regarding, you know, practical issues like that. And inapticorn, the caela is a great phrase, and it's into the metal. So we need that kind of approach, a metal approach that people will support each other. And again, the farmers of Ireland came out and showed that they care for the communities and the help to everybody regarding clearing trees and everything else. And the old horrible word of health and safety, too much health and safety went out the window. They have to be careful. I don't know if Cormac or Fod be careful with falling wires and things like that. But they are careful. They are, many of them are very, very experienced in dealing with all kinds of situations. And they took care. But they made sure that roads were open and people could get out and people get in. And I really do sympathise, and I do sympathise with the people who are still waiting to get power back in very remote areas. But when I, years ago, ESP lines went through forestry. There was a clear fill past I had in my own area where he's been installed in the 90s for a cousin of mine. And there was a hole within the chamber, clear the way. And this must be maintained. And we must ensure that trees along the roadside as well must be removed. Because a tree fell on me one time when I was moved along with my late mom and brother. And it's an awful experience. It was a summer's day. So any trees that are overhanging should be cut back. Good morning.