REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT ATHLONE CIVIC CENTRE TUESDAY 22ND DECEMBER 2009
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT ATHLONE CIVIC CENTRE TUESDAY 22ND DECEMBER 2009
Dia dhíbh a chairde. It is good to be here with you this afternoon in Athlone. I would particularly like to thank Deputy Mayor, Sheila Buckley Byrne and County Manager, Danny McLoughlin for their kind welcome.
Athlone and the surrounding areas suffered unprecedented flooding, with extensive consequences: ninety homes flooded, contents damaged and destroyed, roads rendered unpassable, livestock stranded in cut-off fields and individuals and families forced to evacuate their homes. The distress and trauma were very real and the experience was frightening and upsetting for the many victims of the floods. This afternoon, I would like to express my solidarity with them and to add my words of thanks to the many volunteers and professionals who worked round the clock throughout the crisis period to contain the extensive damage caused by flooding on such an unprecedented scale.
The response by local authorities was rapid and comprehensive. I would like to thank Westmeath County Council, Athlone Town Council, An Garda Síochana, the Health Service Executive, the Army and the Civil Defence for their coordinated emergency response through the Flood Coordination Group. In addition to all these agencies and their staff, I would also like to thank the local community who came together in a generous, spontaneous response that captured the spirit of the meitheal. The Saint Vincent de Paul and other community and voluntary organisations were quick to join the rescue effort and there has been overwhelming public support in the form of donations, skilled voluntary labour, clothing and household goods. This massive team effort and the spirit in which it was undertaken says a lot about the central role of community in Irish society today and I thank all those neighbours, friends, relatives and volunteers who were ready and willing to lend a hand in so many different ways to help those affected.
Now that the waters are receding, the clean-up and recovery phase is in full swing, I would like to thank all those who are engaged in this effort. The immediate adrenaline of filling sand-bags and working emergency pumps has given way to the less visible work of insurance claims and clean-up, but I am pleased to see that the recovery operation is being tackled with the same enthusiasm and energy. The proven Irish capacity to join forces in times of adversity will be needed; working together, we can ensure that this too shall pass and that the homes, businesses, farms, roads and community facilities affected in Athlone and the surrounding areas can be restored as soon as possible.
My thanks to all of you here today for the tremendous work you have done and continue to do. I wish you all the very best for the remainder of the recovery effort and, in the meantime, a peaceful and safe Christmas. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.