“You’d wonder why you would tax your vehicles – where does the money go?”
Leslie Newman (44), from Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny, was expressing his frustration as he made on his way through Stradbally, Co Laois, on Wednesday evening, ahead of a further night of severe frost and plummeting temperatures.
Newman pays more than €1,500 in motor tax a year, on two personal cars and four commercial vehicles in his metal-fabricating business.
“But I’m supposed to drive in the snow; there was no provision made for the cold weather,” he said in exasperation at the lack of treatment of roads in the icy conditions.
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Until three years ago Newman privately salted a number of filling stations in the region, including at the Applegreen facility at Birdhill, Co Tipperary, and Barack Obama Plaza in Moneygall, Co Tipperary.
“I’m one man and I didn’t leave them in the state the roads are in now,” he said.
Further along Stradbally’s Main Street, as the freezing fog thickened in the darkening dusk, resident Daryl Mulhall (34) said that on Sunday morning he had no power for three hours.
He was keen to praise local auctioneer, John O’Brien, who Mulhall said shovelled snow off the pavement along the street in front of his premises.
“He defrosted it – salted it so that the old ladies could walk the pavement,” said Mulhall.
Further down the street, workers at the Eastern Area of Laois County Council were busy with a load of sand to deal with the slippery conditions in the area.
At the Malt House, Matthew Budziszewski (31), outlined how the cold weather had affected him, as his friend used a sledge hammer to break up ice at the entrance.
“The water pipes were frozen; we have to have the water pipe open, otherwise the pipe will burst,” said Budziszewski, who has lived in the town for seven years.
He explained how authorities in his native Poland deal with weather caused by low temperatures.
“When the first snow comes down, straight away it’s swept away. Salt and sand is put on the roads and footpaths,” he said.
While the road from Stradbally to Portlaoise had been treated to deal with the severe frost and snow, the road from the M7 to Vicarstown was very icy, with a 5ft drop in parts on either side of this narrow road making meeting oncoming traffic a dicey affair.
A silver Ford car was parked up on the roadside, apparently as a result of a crash.
In Portlaoise a surprisingly large amount of snow had fallen, with evidence of two to three inches in places.
As cars trundled cautiously through the town, Portlaoise native and former Laois hurler Niall Rigney (56) took a break from his evening walk in the cold snap to talk.
“My generation growing up, you had it every winter. The last time we had it was 2010; we’re not used to it,” he said.
“In my time, the school would be closed on the Monday because the pipes were frozen, but you would be back to school on the Tuesday.”
Rigney was not so critical of the slippery state of some pavements and roads in the county.
“There’s only so much gritting they can do. I stayed on the main roads. I still drove to and from work – perhaps that’s easy for someone who is living in a town to say. Once the elderly are okay, that’s the main thing,” he said.
Also in Portlaoise was Karl Sweeny (53) from Dublin, who travelled down on Monday for work outside Mountmellick.
“I’m working on a farm in a furniture-making business five miles from Mountmellick,” he said.
Once Sweeney left the motorway he too noticed the challenging condition of smaller roads.
“There was snow and ice on the roads. Around Mountmellick the roads were not too bad, just very icy. There weren’t too many people on the roads; that’s what I was worrying about – it’s sometimes hard to judge where the ditch is,” he said.
The east of Co Laois and higher ground have seen most snow but with no significant issues regarding power or water outages, said Henry Burns, chair of Laois Irish Farmers’ Association.
“Going toward Timahoe, Stradbally and on to the Carlow border is quite bad. The Slieve Bloom Mountains, where I am, the ground higher up is the worst affected, but we did have snow on the lowlands too,” he said.
[ People in Kerry had to melt snow to get water supplies amid cold snapOpens in new window ]
While south Kildare has not been significantly impacted by heavy snowfalls, it has been affected by icy conditions on the roads, with many rural schools closed, said Fianna Fáil councillor Veralouise Behan.
Communities are helping each other out, she added.
“Farmers are helping elderly people get about. The Piers cafe in Moone is hosting locals who are being brought in on 4x4s,” said Behan.
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