Sir, – I recently discovered the government booklet Preparing for Major Emergencies, which was distributed to households some time ago. The booklet bears no date, but the picture of Bertie Ahern in the introduction provides the context and an appropriate portent of doom.
The booklet covers flooding, chemical spills, explosions, pandemics and nuclear incidents but is silent on such likely events as hurricanes, heatwaves and drought, severe cold weather, terrorist attacks and prolonged outages of electricity, gas, public transport, fuel supplies, ATMs and refuse collections, not to mention self-inflicted economic disasters and earthquakes.
The recurring recommendations are to dial 999, check the internet, and put our trust in the authorities! All in all, a thoroughly inadequate little book. – Yours, etc,
GEORGE REYNOLDS,
Blessington,
Co Wicklow.