The right attitude for this cold snap? Don’t worry: we’ve got it in spades...
KEITH MAHON
STORES weren’t just busy with customers rushing to buy fuel and food supplies. Some people were planning ahead to have some fun in the snow, as sales in sleds saw a sharp rise.
Keith Mahon visited Great Outdoors clothing, footwear and equipment store in Dublin yesterday to buy a sled for his daughter, Sophie.
‘She’s 12, so she’s probably too big for it, but it doesn’t snow in Ireland that often!’ he told the Irish Daily Mail.
However, he was not in much of a panic in terms of getting other supplies.
Keith said: ‘I think we’re safe enough, we run a company called The Taste so there’s plenty of food there – I think we’ll be able to survive the three days.’
DARREN DARCY
‘I bought this [snow shove] just in case we get swamped out of it with the snow, it was only €10 – it’s good value,’ said Darren Darcy in Ballymun. ‘It’s all because I heard it on the news on Saturday and Sunday, and I’ll be out helping the elderly too if they can snowed in. You have to do your good deeds.
‘I am a taxi driver and I’ll probably be off the road, and down two days wages too, so I’ll use that time to help others if the big freeze comes.’
DEIRDRE PRINCE
‘I DECIDED to come out now and get whatever I need to keep the house warm because its miserable when it’s cold and you don’t want to be going out,’ Deirdre Prince told the Mail in Stoneybatter, Dublin. ‘The briquettes were on a deal but I had to get wood sticks too. We cut down loads of trees at home and we had loads and we have run out. And I had to get them sticks in. You can’t really be taking any chances, I wasn’t going to do it at all, but we have a stove – it’s the best thing I ever did: you can put it on in the morning and leave it on. However, you need the fuel so this will be me for the week.
‘I don’t mind a day or two of snow but after that you want things back to normal.’
JAN POWER
‘IT’S freezing,’ said Jan Power of Fairview, who was shopping with her son Rory Power Breen in tow. ‘You can feel the cold and I thought it’s best to go out now and get what I need because its supposed to get really bad, and I don’t want to
take any chances. I got briquettes and coal, and I can get the fire going and keep the house warm especially with the kids.
‘It’s the younger ones that I’d be thinking of mostly when the cold comes in, they might enjoy a bit of snow for a short time but the last thing you want is colds and flu on top of the bad weather.
‘It is probably better to sort it out now rather than wait until it’s too late, and it’s better not to take any chances. Here today, we have kind workers helping me carry in my bags of fuel.’
PAULINE BRIDGEMAN
PAULINE, of Templeogue in south Dublin, was also preparing for snowfall in Great Outdoors, where she bought a sled for her grandchild.
As he is only four years old, this week will be his first time experiencing a winter wonderland.
Pauline has also purchased heating supplies, buying extra wood for the stove ‘just in case’. However, she didn’t see any need just yet to stock up on extra-warm clothing just yet. ‘We have all of those we always like to keep ourselves warm,’ she said.
Pauline has experienced severe snowfall before, as she reminisced about the last major snow event seen in Ireland. ‘The last big snow was 1982,’ she said.
‘That lasted two weeks though – it was unbelievable.’