Councillor nearly caught in eye of storm

Cllr Paddy Farrell spoke to the Leitrim Observer about narrowly avoiding crossing paths with the tornado which caused significant damage to Leitrim Village.

"I was coming the Sligo direction and was just crossing the bridge; if it was a couple of seconds later, I'd have gotten the brunt of it. The jeep was pelted with a ton of bricks, would be the best way to describe it and I did get a fierce fright; I didn't know what was happening," Cllr Farrell said. 

He continued: "It was a very scary incident and I've never seen anything like it in my lifetime and I hope I don't see it again."

He said that the people of Leitrim village are still "trying to come to terms with it; I suppose there has been a lot of work done and I'd like to praise the quick response of all the responders as well as Leitrim County Council. They were able to help people very quickly and put people at ease and a lot of work was carried out even as early as Monday and the following days; it's ongoing."

He said that people are hoping to get back to some kind of normality as soon as possible and said all those who were forced to leave their homes have alternative accommodation. 

"Some were lucky enough to have family members to go and stay with and the council looked after anyone who didn't. They did look after everyone as best they could."

Cllr Farrell noted that "Leo was down and promised the sun, moon and stars but it just doesn't work that quickly either. People thought when he left that they'd nearly have money the next day."