REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT CORK COUNTY HALL MONDAY 21 DECEMBER 2009
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT CORK COUNTY HALL MONDAY 21 DECEMBER 2009
Dia dhíbh a chairde. It’s good to be here with you today, though I’m sorry it is in such circumstances. I’d like to thank Mayor Derry Canty and Martin Riordan, the Cork county manager, for their very warm welcome. I was in touch with both of you during the crisis period and so I am very pleased to be here today to express my personal thanks to you and the team which you led. I know that there were countless people who worked round the clock in the emergency period and many more who even today are continuing the massive effort required for the clean-up and recovery phase. These included the staff of the county council, the emergency services, various official bodies, charitable organisations, community and voluntary groups, and individuals who played their part in reaching out to their neighbours in this time of great need.
From my visit here today, I can see that the damage was indeed extensive. The County facilities themselves did not escape damage. Some of your own offices were flooded and I know that many people had been looking forward to the imminent opening of the new County Library which sadly was damaged in the floods. Homes, farms and businesses across the county were flooded or cut off; the Kingsley Hotel right near here was one of the most high-profile buildings to be affected. In addition, a number of areas were faced with the challenge of a lack of clean, safe drinking water. Throughout the county, people suffered directly or indirectly. The experience was no doubt a deeply upsetting and frightening one, as people saw familiar streets and fields turn into rivers and lakes and some were forced to evacuate their own homes. Now when their thoughts would normally be occupied with preparations for Christmas, they are instead focused on clean-up efforts, insurance claims and all the difficult, tiring elements that go into restoring their homes and premises.
As well as thanking all those involved in the crisis management and recovery efforts, I am also here today to express my solidarity with everyone whose homes, farms and premises were affected throughout county Cork. Throughout this experience, what has stood out for me were the many stories of tremendous community spirit and generosity that saw the people of the county, even in their own hour of need, reach out to neighbours, relatives, the vulnerable and come together in the spirit of the old Irish meitheal. Emergency teams laboured night and day, helped out by the many willing volunteers. This joining of professional and voluntary effort continues on today as you join forces to enable families return to their homes and allow businesses to get back up and running. Because of the scale of the damage, there is much work required to return things to normal. But the team at Cork County Council and the many other organisations and volunteers are the many willing faces and hands of this clean-up operation and continue to be unstinting in their efforts. I thank each of you for this vaulable work.
I already got an opportunity this morning to visit the city centre and see the clean-up effort there, and later today I will be travelling to Bandon, where the town and the surrounding area were also badly affected. People throughout the county are continuing to feel the knock-on effects of the flooding. My thoughts are with them during the festive period. I wish each of you a safe and happy Christmas and all the best with the ongoing recovery and restoration efforts in the New Year.