REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT COMMUNITY CENTRE, CLAREGALWAY TUESDAY, 22ND DECEMBER 2009
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT COMMUNITY CENTRE, CLAREGALWAY TUESDAY, 22ND DECEMBER 2009
Dia dhíbh a chairde. It is good to join you here in Claregalway this morning and I would particularly like to thank Frank Gilmore, Director of Services of Galway County Council for this warm welcome. In coming here today, during this Christmas week, I would like to express my solidarity with all those from Claregalway and the surrounding areas whose homes, farms and businesses were damaged in the flooding and to express my thanks to everyone involved in the emergency and recovery operations.
During last month’s flooding, Claregalway experienced the worst nature could throw at us. Water rose to unprecedented levels, entering homes and business premises, blocking roads, cutting off entire housing estates and farms. For those directly affected, it was an upsetting, disorienting experience to see their familiar surroundings under feet of water. However, the authorities, voluntary organisations and individuals joined together in heroic efforts to ensure there was no loss of life and to contain damage as much as possible. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Galway County Council, the Civil Defence, the Army, the Gardaí, the Fire Service and the HSE who put up a coordinated interagency response. They were helped in no small way by so many organisations and individuals who could have stayed on dry land or who could have concentrated on their own problems but instead chose to add their weight to the community response to the floods. Local people opened their doors and their homes to those who had to be evacuated from their houses, volunteers filled countless sandbags, farmers helped with fodder or with moving livestock, members of the business community helped those whose premises were flooded or cut off and throughout Claregalway and the surrounding area people provided assistance and reassurance to elderly or vulnerable neighbours. This generous, spontaneous display of community spirit epitomises the traditional rural Irish spirit of the meitheal and was a huge asset to Claregalway in its response to the flooding.
Of course, although the flood waters have receded, the recovery and clean-up phase is still underway and I would like also to express my thanks to the local authorities, housing services, charitable organisations and all those involved in helping people restore their damaged homes and businesses. The clean-up operation, a test of patience and strength for all the victims of the flooding, but the energy and enthusiasm of the official agencies and voluntary groups who are undertaking this operation is inspiring and I thank them all for their vital work.
To everyone concerned, whether as a victim of the floods, a member of the crisis response team or a volunteer, I reiterate my thanks for your hard work and team effort. I wish you all a very peaceful Christmas and I hope that Claregalway can recover fully as early as possible in the New Year. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.