Politicians can take snow day as real experts run country
POLITICIANS are supposed to be experts in knowing which way the wind is blowing – but our lot can’t even agree on the weather.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar rose to his feet yesterday afternoon to make an unscheduled announcement to the nation.
Before anybody got too excited at the prospect of a snap election, Mr Varadkar made it clear that a different kind of snap was on his mind. A cold snap.
“It is on snow,” he said, as the Ceann Comhairle queried whether he was about to deliver a live weather forecast from the Dáil chamber.
If he was, it would have read something like this: “Temperatures rising amid polar vortex.”
Alas, the Taoiseach told the House he had helped present the Lotto once “but I have not yet done the weather forecast”.
“I wish to say a few words about the ‘Beast from the East’ and ‘Storm Emma’,” he said, before advising the nation to “stay safe”.
“I assure the Irish people that while we are hoping for the best, we are preparing for the worst and we will be ready for whatever the weather brings,” he said ominously.
“I ask people to look after their neighbours, especially those who are isolated or living alone, to look after the elderly and to look after each other. I ask them to follow up-to-the-minute expert advice and not to do anything that would put their lives, or the lives of others, in danger.
“If we take the right precautions we can avoid tragedies and we should be united in the way we face this national challenge.”
But if it’s unity we need at a time like this, then we are doomed. Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin responded to the Taoiseach with a “point of order”, complaining he wasn’t afforded an opportunity to talk about the gathering storm clouds.
“I have no difficulty with the Taoiseach’s presentation, but it would have been helpful if we could have had a short debate on issues not covered by what the Taoiseach said.”
He wanted “proper communication to every party” which was a somewhat ironic comment after the pair had only minutes earlier rowed over the Government’s ‘over communication’ of the National Development Plan.
Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald piped up that while she was “sure” people appreciated the Taoiseach’s concern, she was at “a bit of a loss as to the purpose of his statement”.
“It was a statement of the obvious,” she reckoned.
There would be little surprise if the hot air emanating from Leinster House showed up on the charts being studied in the nearby Agriculture House, where you’ll be glad to hear the real emergency planners are based.
While TDs wrangle, a large team of actual experts has been busy coming up with ways “to keep the country moving”.
The National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG) is the real ‘brains trust’ which we will all rely on over the coming hours and days.
Civil servants from key Government departments including Social Protection and Health, emergency responders like gardaí, the OPW, Defence Forces, ESB, Irish Water and other agencies all come together under the NECG banner.
They have become well-practiced in crisis management in recent years – but this is the first time this group has had to deal with a snow event.
Since the establishment of a colour-coding warning system in 2013, Ireland has gone on ‘Red Alert’ six times.
The first was in the run-up to Christmas 2013, followed by Storm Darwin (2014), Rachel and Desmond (2015), and most recently former Hurricane Ophelia.
But if events play out as Met Éireann expects, this will be the first time we’ll go ‘Red’ for a snow event.
The NECG will ultimately decide whether there should be widespread school closures and, after some criticism during Ophelia, it may also give employers advice on whether they should shut for a day.
If the lights go out or the pipes burst, they will be the men and women we turn to.
Chair of the NECG Sean Hogan warned we should be braced for an “exceptional event”. So we live in strange and dangerous times – but it’s business as usual in Leinster House. Let’s hope the politicians take a ‘snow day’ and let the real experts run the country for a few hours.