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Updated 11.00 pm
STORM OPHELIA GAVE Ireland an absolute pasting today as it made its laborious way across the country.
Trees were ripped up by the roots, roofs were peeled back and tossed aside, and, tragically, at least three people died – the hurricane-force winds showed no mercy.
As we write, 58-year-old Waterford woman Clare O’Neill and Michael Pyke (31) from Tipperary have been named as the first two victims of the storm. A third man, in Co Louth, has not yet been identified locally.
Nowhere in the country has been safe.
On the Boreenmanna Road in Co Cork, Aoife Murphy captured these shots of the destructive force of Storm Ophelia, with a tree ripped up and tossed aside like confetti.
In Co Galway, meanwhile, the storm left behind pounding waves and sodden roads along the coast as it made its way northward:
In Coolcotts, Wexford town, the roof of Scoil Mhuire Primary School was blown clean off:
That was to become something of a recurring theme: in Cork city, a large portion of the roof of the Cork City FC stadium at Turner’s Cross has been ripped off.
Cork is suffering badly – this shows part of the roof of Passage West’s GAA clubhouse blowing close to houses in the village:
Meanwhile, an avenue of trees came loose from their moorings and completely blocked Centre Park Road in Cork city:
Things were no prettier in Charleville:
In nearby Douglas in Cork, the sports hall of the Community School has been devastated:
The midlands did not emerge unscathed – these trees were ripped from the ground at Abbeylands in Mullingar, Co Westmeath.
A TheJournal.ie user has been in touch with this short video of what appears to be part of an apartment balcony railing flapping perilously around the Beacon Quarter in Sandyford, south Dublin. (Fire services have just intervened to pull the piece of sheeting back into the apartment block):
Close to TheJournal.ie offices in Dublin, this is happening (don’t worry – we have all gone to work offsite for the duration of the storm):
The flashing on this roof has since been secured by members of Dublin Fire Brigade.
As illustrated by the tragic death of the woman in Waterford, the danger of large branches and trees felled by the wind cannot be underestimated. A man has been killed near Cahir in Co Tipperary while using a chainsaw to try to clear a fallen tree.
In Cork, near Fota Wildlife Park:
This tree is lying across Leeson Street in Dublin:
And not far away, in Ranelagh, Dublin 6, this old giant on Northbrook Road has collapsed onto a house:
Fallen telegraph poles and electric cables are also a massive hazard – around 200,000 households – business and residential – are without power because of the onslaught of the past few hours. Find out more about that here.
Even if you think you have taken all precautions and your belongings can’t move in the wind, this image taken by Prezmyslaw Nawrocki in Lahinch, Co Clare, which has suffered more than its share of storm damage over the years, shows little is escaping Ophelia:
The National Emergency Coordination Group has said in the last hour that “the immediate storm will not abate over the south coast until 4-6pm and midnight for the north of the country”. Please stay safe and keep indoors if possible. If there is damage to be seen outside your window, by all means email to us at tips@thejournal.ie, tweet or Facebook us, but please don’t venture out on our behalf.
Additional reporting Cianan Brennan
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A referendum would put this issue to bed but this government knows they would lose. Irish people should vote on these issues in future not who fixed the potholes.
@Burn Turf: I’d say there a quite a few that notice what’s going on and think we probably should be aligned with others. If Norway and Sweden are dropping neutrality (and they were is a good position to defend their neutrality) then what chance have we if someone wants to use our fair green Isle as an aircraft carrier. Switzerland can defend its neutrality, but no one will touch them thanks to their banks! Let’s not kid ourselves and be blinded by our green tinted glasses. If someone wants us, they will this strategic land of ours.
@Paul Furey: It’s Finland, not Norway. Norway has been in NATO since the beginning, and Finland just joined. But otherwise I’m with you on everything else.
@Burn Turf: Hasn’t it been clearly stated that the governors have no intention atm to join N.A.T.O.?
You are right of course. Daft mistake to make. Thanks
Endless NATO articles….nothing else happening in the world? Seems the journal does not deem young international sporting tragedies as newsworthy.
Yesterday Robbie Keanes old strike partner, Cedric Rousell of Belgium, Coventry and Wolves, heart attack 45.
Today 20 yr old British Ice Hockey prodigy, Alex Graham, represented GB at u18 and U20
@p m: Vaxx. Sssshhhh…..
This begs the question of why was this forum set up in the first place if it was not to promote NATO…we know a commission was set up last year at the Defence Forces all that was disgust at a forum…last year’s commission on DF mentioned many of the recommendations on this forum
@Paul Maguire: Maybe they just lost their bottle.
@Paul Maguire: it was setup to discuss security, or do you prefer to bury your head in the sand ?
Just another box the Irish government want to tick to make them the perfect boys in Europe.
Less protesters and more focused communication on cyber security hopefully happens tomorrow. It’s not all NATO, plenty to discuss to protect our country and neutrality.
Common defence is common sense
@Roj Blake: Has been true since the dawn of man!
@Roj Blake: Not necessarily. Can also drag us into conflicts not of our concern.
Softening us up to accept a decision already made to join in future NATO military adventures.
@Tony Murphy: your source?
@Tony Murphy: utter BS
The Tankies in the Journal comments gutted that with just one day left, we haven’t joined NATO yet.
Keep your hopes up folks, the head Tankie will get the floor tomorrow, He’s bound to bring it up.
@goldiefish72: “Tankie is a pejorative label for communists, particularly Stalinists, who support the authoritarian tendencies of Marxism–Leninism or, more generally, authoritarian states associated with Marxism–Leninism, whether contemporary or historical.” Wikipedia. So we have Stalinists posting here…..must be those Orwell Road bots.
No one wants to be involved in war, but when you have Hitler invading countries for fun or Putin threatening the stability of Europe, of which we are a part of an reliant on, why do we think we can just sit on the fence and say nah, we’re not helping out at all, when we are clearly aligned with one side?
It’s a weak stance in my opinion, especially when we’re allowing US air force to refuel and stop here which makes it make even less sense.
The usual big mouths are out in force. If it can to defending this country, they’d be hiding under the bed
“In order to work, neutrality has to be universally agreed upon” and as with the likes of Sweden, Finland and Switzerland….they are/were in a position to defend their neutrality. As for us……
Let the people decide with a vote
this sounds like a cut price way for Ireland to outsource its defence considering in the context of a Naval force a bunch of fishing boats is all we have. In an air context well there will still be the RAF. Im guessing when we join NATO there’ll be bases set up on the west coast to close the back door into europe. To be fair its a good bit of business. we dont have the money for tanks and leftie cranks on here will blather on about money that should be spent on more worthwhile projects like their dole bonuses, so if we outsource it while formally trading in our sovereignty for a few quid then there’ll be a hullabaloo and then hopefully someone will stage a coup somewhere else and it’ll all die down.
have your say