This article is from page 12 of the 2010-01-12 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
The most important consideration, the Chmaber CEO said, is that a bet- ter response be put in place for future dramatic weather events.
‘The emergency services are doing an amazing job but the real disaster
would be if we don’t learn the lessons we need from this. This may have been a very rare weather event, as were the floods, but we need a faster response to keep the country mov- ing. How long does something have to go on before it’s considered a na- tional crisis? We need better plans in place to ensure that people are kept moving. If people keep moving then commerce will keep moving.”
Ms McInerney said that there were some good things during the very difficult weeks leading up to and im- mediately after Christmas.
“There were lots of stories of how people in business and communities reached out to help each other and it was good that this was highlighted.”
For some smaller towns and vil- lages, the dreadful road conditions meant increased business.
Traders in Kilrush said that more people than usual did their Christ- mas shopping in the town and they are putting this down to shoppers re-
luctance to drive very far.
While many businesses have suf- fered losses because of the double blow of flooding and freezing, one sector will benefit.
The building trade, which has been going through a massive slump, 1s now in demand to repair damage to businesses and private property and to supply grit for roads.
Meanwhile, Shannon airport was one of the few airports which didn’t close at all during the big freeze.
A spokeswoman for the airport said that while there had been some flights delayed, none were cancelled.
“We were lucky. We remained op- erational the whole time and what delays there were were mostly due to conditions in UK airports.”