CORK County Council will be seeking extra funding to fix road damage following the recent big freeze.
Council director of services Padraig Barrett outlined a report into the recent severe weather event and said roads across the county have been severely damaged due to the level of rainfall, snow, freezing temperatures and the fact that compacted snow had been lying on the surface for more than seven days.
He outlined the Council’s response to the big freeze and said there is already evidence of damage on roads that have been cleared.
‘This will be assessed over the coming weeks once the thaw has concluded and we will be engaging with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Transport in this regard,’ he said.
‘Over the 12 days we spread over 4,500 tonnes of salt around the county. The response too from all staff as well as community groups was outstanding.’
He said the multi-hazard event saw 700ml of rain fall in Sherkin Island over a 36-hour period ahead of the big freeze.
Mr Barrett said the weather had been below freezing since January 1st, so roads were gritted on a daily basis and their focus was on ensuring that main routes were prioritised.
‘This proved to be extremely challenging in the context of the heavy snowfall that was experienced throughout the county on January 4th and 5th and in particular in north Cork, north west Cork and mid Cork.’
Councillors were told that since January 4th, up to 50cm of snow fell in parts of the county, while the weight of snow contributed to a considerable number of fallen trees, which now had to be dealt with, in addition to clearing the snow.
‘We deployed every vehicle at our disposal including gritters and 25 snow ploughs and we also drafted in extra crews from other parts of the county to help,’ Mr Barrett said.
County mayor Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) said many of the outdoor Council staff went ‘above and beyond’ the call of duty.
‘The response from Cork County Council couldn’t have been better but also the citizens have to be thanked for their help,’ said Cllr
Carroll.
Cllr Michael Looney (FF) said the Council really stepped up during the weather events of last week with ground staff working 24/7 to help communities.
‘I also want to include the farming community in this as many were out on their tractors clearing roads and bringing food to people and they are the unsung heroes,’ said Cllr Looney, who asked they write letters of gratitude to various community
groups.
His colleague Cllr Gobnait Moynihan said crews were out day and night and everything that could be done was done in the Macroom and Millstreet area. Cllr Gillian Coughlan (FF) paid tribute to the level of preparedness in advance of the plummeting temperatures and said they have come a long way since previous weather events.
‘Every single link in the chain had its role and it all worked. I would also ask the Council to write a letter to each of the outdoor staff as they went above the call of duty,’ said Cllr Coughlan.
She did ask if salt bins could be provided on some of the new housing estates in Bandon which are located in hilly locations.
‘There has been lots of damages to roads across the county due to snow and ice and we need to ask for financial help from the Department. We are only in January yet and that weather event won’t be the last one of 2025.’
Council chief executive Moira Murrell said the response was ‘exceptional’ across all levels within the Council and acknowledged that the outdoor staff who were out morning noon and night.
She said she will arrange acknowledgement letters to all outdoor staff.
‘We review every single weather event and to see this level of response is a result of these constant reviews,’ she said.
