Abuse of ESB crews 'not on', says north Westmeath councillor

Incidents of ESB workers being abused in north Westmeath have been highlighted by local councillor, Alfie Devine. Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, he said that he had been informed by ESB management in the last few days that crews on the ground were “getting verbal abuse from people in one or two areas of north Westmeath”.

Cllr Devine said “it was probably just frustration” but he urged the public to remember that these men and women are working day and night to restore power and are deserving of praise, which they are also getting “loads of”. He pointed out that these workers are going home after long shifts to houses that are also without power. He added that since he highlighted the matter on social media there have been no further incidents.

Cllr Devine pointed out that ESB crews may have had difficulty accessing certain lands because gates were locked and that may have delayed the restoration of power in some areas.

He said that parts of Whitehall were still out (at the time of speaking), but crews were working on it and were then heading in the Fore, Glenidan direction. “There are about 300 jobs to be done in the north of the county, but there are teams in from Finland working on them and German teams are coming in the morning,” he said. He expects all areas to have power in the next couple of days.

“I am putting updates on Facebook and people appreciate those updates,” he said.

Alfie is a member of the Fire Service and on the night of the storm he and 11 of his colleagues left their families to stay in the fire station in Castlepollard. The Civil Defence provided them with camp beds for the night. “We look after each other like that,” Cllr Devine said.

“We stayed from 11pm on Thursday until the red alert lifted at 12 noon on Friday. We got a couple of call-outs, one to an elderly man who had had a cardiac arrest and the other was a false alarm,” he said.

He explained that Fire Service personnel are first responders and, because north Westmeath is so far from the hospital, they provide first aid until further help arrives.

Cllr Devine is newly elected to Westmeath County Council and is enjoying his role. “Helping people is what it is all about,” he said. In recent days he has been helping by keeping people updated and by putting them in touch with those that can help. For instance, he said that if a farmer is trying to get water to his or her animals, he can help by putting them in touch with someone local who has a tanker.

Cllr Devine has also been working closely with the ESB, letting them know of people who are vulnerable and who may need power urgently to charge up medical devices.

He praised the Castle Varagh Hotel in Castlepollard for their response to the current emergency. “The hotel has set up a hub in a back area and loads of people are in there working on their laptops because the phones and internet are still out. It has been packed since Saturday. I’ve used it myself.”

He also praised Ringtown and Castlepollard hurling clubs for opening their premises to people to have a cup of tea, showers and to charge up their devices.