Leitrim tornado victim feels they were left ‘high and dry’ on financial support

Last December, a freak tornado ripped through Leitrim village leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, and left many residents counting the costs of its damage.

The freak tornado struck just after 12PM and it tore through the main street of the village on the Drumshanbo side of the bridge, ripping roofs off buildings, damaging cars, flipping boats, bent the steel posts on the local football field, and injuring three people.

The next day the government promised to make funding available, though some affected business people felt that they were left in the wind afterwards.

“Leo Varadkar came the next day after the tornado hit, and he walked around the village and he walked into our backyard and looked at the damage and all that. My wife asked what help would be for us. He says he was going back immediately to Dublin, to the capital, to get some funding for us,” says Seamus Gibbons, who owns Electric bike trails in Leitrim village.

The issue was raised in the Dáil by Sligo-Leitrim TD Martin Kenny, the week following the tornado, where he asked the government to outline clear guidelines of how support could be assessed.

At that time the government promised 5.5% interest rate loans for affected businesses in the Dáil, though Mr Gibbons says that he was never contacted by the government regarding them.

He heard about the 5.5% interest rate loans, “To me that was a joke,” says Mr Gibbons, “They were promising that there would be help, but it was help at a price, that's what it was coming out at, but absolutely no one ever contacted us afterwards about whether we wanted the loan or not.”

Though support was there, it was not made clear how to access it, according to Mr Gibbons, in the end, he and another business owner met with Deputy Frank Feighan, who secured a loan from Leitrim Enterprise office, an organisation which is funded by the government to support local businesses.

They gave 0% interest loans to the affected businesses for the first six months, until their insurance was paid out.

He expressed his thanks to Frank Feighan, Leitrim County council, and the emergency services for helping them in their hour of need, he felt that “(the government) left us high and dry,“ he says.

Despite that, other businesses in the area that spoke to the Observer felt that they received adequate support from the government afterwards.

The office of the Taoiseach has not yet responded to a request for comment.

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