Kildare County Council needs more resources in aftermath of Storm Emma says TD

A Co Kildare TD is calling for more resources to be given to Kildare County Council.

Local Fianna Fail TD, Frank O’Rourke, has said that lessons can be learned in the aftermath of Storm Emma, as Kildare takes the hit.

Deputy O’Rourke said: “Kildare so far have experienced the brunt of Storm Emma. Great efforts have been made to minimize the effect of the storm and extraordinary commitment has been shown by so many. ”

He said:“We have seen that the motorway network has been kept open to traffic, but the challenge for many residents in Celbridge, Maynooth, Straffan, Rathcoffey, Clane and Prosperous has been to get access to the motorway and key services.”

Deputy O’Rourke said: “I understand that 18 Kildare County Council trucks, 30 tractor powered ploughs a number of JCB’s and other machines have been attempting to clear the regional roads and other strategic routes throughout Kildare and, as I have seen today, they are making progress.”

He said:“Link roads between our North Kildare towns have been badly affected. Having seen at first hand today the power of community effort, in Clane, Maynooth and Kilcock, I believe that we can learn from these events. There has been a great collective effort, between state and voluntary organisations and our community to deal with the challenge head on.”

Deputy O’Rourke said: “It seems incredible only a kilometre from our motorway network, which has been kept open to traffic, we have blocked roads for a number of days. Kildare Co Council needs further supports and resources as it was so badly hit. We need to see how best we can address this issue for the future.  However, we cannot but acknowledge the great work of so many in minimising the impact of this extraordinary weather event.”