Driving conditions remain extremely difficult in the southeast today as local authorities seek to keep roads gritted in counties Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and Tipperary.
The mayor of Kilkenny city, Green Party councillor Malcolm Noonan, today said there was “no need at present” to call in the Army to assist the local authority. Mr Noonan insisted local authorities have the situation in the area "under control”.
John Mulholland, director of services with Kilkenny County Council said the weather was creating “an economic and logistical nightmare” for local authorities. Co Kilkenny has a roads network of over 3,000km, but resources only permit 320km to be treated.
Mr Mulholland said the council has 16 gritting trucks treating major roads twice a day but that supplies of salt were “precarious”.
The council is sending “a fleet of six trucks” today to Limerick to collect fresh supplies of salt from continental Europe that have arrived at the port of Foynes. The council is also hoping to source further supplies of salt from a ship reportedly due in Cork port on Monday.
Carlow County Council has announced it has procured a further 90 tonnes of salt and has "enough to last until Tuesday or Wednesday” next.
Senior engineer Liam Fitzgerald said a consignment of 30 tonnes had been acquired from the Irish Salt Mining Exploration Company in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, and a further 60 tonnes from a shipment from overseas.
He said the main roads in the county, including the M9 motorway’s Carlow bypass, had been gritted today. Mr Fitzgerald said the council has also contracted a number of farmers to grit secondary roads using their own agricultural machinery. The council was providing the farmers with grit but not salt.
He confirmed the Carlow local authorities have requested the Defence Forces to be “on standby” if the weather worsens. However, soldiers had not yet been called in, and he said emergencies and “mercy missions” are being handled by the Fire and Rescue Service and the Civil Defence.
In Carlow, which was the coldest county in Ireland yesterday, the temperature has fallen further. Alan O’Reilly, who operates a private weather station near Tullow, recorded a reading of -17.7 degrees this morning.
In Co Wexford the N11 was said to be passable but “treacherous” at Enniscorthy, and there are “icy conditions” on the Gorey bypass. Wexford gardaí said there was a fresh snowfall in Bunclody this morning .
Council officials said motorists should try to avoid roads around Thomastown and Graiguenamanagh in Co Kilkenny and Borris in Co Carlow.
The chairman of Carlow Co Council, Michael Doran, has appealed to people to “keep an eye on elderly neighbours and friends”.
Most schools throughout the southeast region remain closed, and it is feared they may be unable to re-open on Monday as further snow is expected. In Clonmel, Co Tipperary, a number of households are without a water supply after pipes froze.
Town clerk Billy Doyle said the council was using two 1,000 litre tankers to provide water to the estimated 100 houses affected.
He also appealed to the public not to leave taps running (to prevent pipes freezing) as this was threatening supplies. As a conservation measure, Clonmel is cutting off water supplies to “about 70 per cent of homes” between midnight and 7am.