Man died after ambulance blocked
Crew sent in to clear the snow came under attack
AN ambulance was unable to get close to the home of a heart attack victim in Tallaght in south Dublin yesterday – one day after a snow plough clearing snow from the area had to leave after being attacked with rocks.
The HSE last confirmed that the 70-year-old man had to be carried out of his house over the snow for some distance until they got him to the ambulance.
He was taken to Tallaght Hospital but died some time later. It’s not yet known if the difficulty in getting to his home exacerbated his condition.
THE blizzard conditions of late last week forced the closure of a number of State services – including the parliamentary draftsman’s office, where officials have been preparing the final draft legislation ahead of the referendum on the Eighth Amendment. But the great snow will not force the Dáil to push out the date of the referendum into June. A date in May – most likely Friday, May 25 – is ‘still a runner,’ sources said, despite the setback of a few days.
‘I don’t expect it to alter the timing,’ a senior figure said.
The final draft legislation for the holding of the poll is set to be brought to Cabinet for approval tomorrow.
It comes as Leo Varadkar warned of the possibility of people being found dead in their homes in the coming days.
Speaking in Wexford yesterday, the Taoiseach said: ‘There have been a number of deaths, sadly, and of course there is the possibility that as we clear the roads, as we get out to isolated areas, that we may find people dead in their homes in the coming days.’
The local council in Tallaght confirmed that plough teams retreated from the area on Saturday after youths threw rocks at them.
The same night, youths also smashed in the windows of the local Killinarden House pub. The area is about a 40-minute walk from where a Lidl supermarket was seriously damaged by a digger in looting on Friday night. A Centra shop in the area was also attacked on the same night.
Sinn Féin councillor Cathal King, said that he was appalled by the anti-social behaviour by a small minority, when so many people in the area had helped each other through the blizzard conditions.
Meanwhile, households across Ireland could face water rationing over the coming days as Irish Water struggles to deal with the impact of the big freeze on its creaking infrastructure.
As of last night, there were around 10,500 homes without water across the country, with a further 121,000 experiencing periodic cuts to supply and 3,000 on boil water notices.
Irish Water blamed the shortages on bursts and leaks caused by the freezing weather and said its treatment plants in several areas were operating at capacity. The utility added that it would try to confine stoppages to night-time hours.
Seán Hogan, chairman of the National Emergency Coordination Group, warned that although the thaw had now set in, many areas were still confronting ‘varied but very challenging conditions’ and today ‘will not be a normal Monday in many areas’.
Public transport is expected to return to normal today, but some services in the worst-affected areas will continue to face disruption.
Most general health services, including outpatient and day surgeries, are due to resume today. However, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation is calling for the first two weeks of March to be declared an emergency period in the health service.
The organisation said it was extremely concerned about the pressures that will be brought to bear on the service following the past five days of emergency weather conditions.