John Gormley and our incompetent Govt.

[dublinfella]

No. What are you going to eat if the farmers go bust?

Many farmers across the country can't store food as they are getting no credit from banks much like all the other small business' out there. Many farmers couldn't get to their livestock to bring them to shelter as roads were closed.

If billions can be spent on criminal bankers then the army can spend a few days helping out struggling farmers. It is the role of the state to help those who were unprepared.

No, no it isn't. Firstly, snow of the 3 inch variety is not a natural disaster. Its 3 inches of snow. If a farmer cannot adapt to that, I fundamentally fail to see what the army can do to help him. Secondly, farmers, like all of us, should be prepared for a bit of snow in the middle of winter, and if they aren't, I fail to see why even more of my tax money should be spent to cover their inadequacies as farmers.

It isn't the role of the state to send the army in to feed cattle. Get a grip and take some responsibility for the fact that any farmer in this situation ballsed up by himself.

We have become a right nation of whingers. No-one seems willing to get off their arses and fix it themselves

[Zapatista]

Can you explain to me why Kildare council requested the help of the Army? Should they not have told the citizens in Kildare it was their own fault and to deal with it themselves?

Why salt the roads? Surely if you don't have a 4by4 with winter tyres its your own fault?

Why should we have public hospitals? If an alud wan catches pneumonia from the cold as the coal man couldn't get to her house then it's her own fault. Why would she expect the HSE to help her? She should have been prepared and bought enough coal to last a monthand stored it in her kitchen.

I think your talking nonsense DF.

It isn't the role of the state to send the army in to feed cattle

It's the role of the state to protect it's citizens. This includes paying nurses to wipe dirty areses amoung other things. It's the role of the state to feed animals if it needs to be done.

[armaghniac]

The army in Kildare were clearing footpaths and the like, public property. Farms are private businesses. Elderly retired people should expect help that businesspeople should not.  I wouldn't expect the army to come around and help every business who had burst pipes for example.

[Zapatista]

The army in Kildare were clearing footpaths and the like, public property. Farms are private businesses. Elderly retired people should expect help that businesspeople should not.  I wouldn't expect the army to come around and help every business who had burst pipes for example.

The banks were private property too.

The farms are a big part of the day to day running of the state as are banks. If they need help ans can get get it then they should get it. Regardless of how it comes. I thought in this case it could have come from an army scratching their balls all day. The Army are a tool of the state to be deployed how the state see fit. I wouldn't expect the army to fix burst pipes for every business either but if there was a businss that couldn't be accessed and was a very important part of the functioning of the country I'd expect the state to make an effort to fix the problem.

[Rossfan]

I suppose Dublinfella also thinks that useless whinging soccer clubs should get up off their arses and get their own grounds instead of wanting a local Council to spend public money on building them a stadium 

[no mo do yakamo]

If the army were brought in and rapid progress was made to solve the small problems the country faced over the last couple of weeks it would show up the council and government operations for what they are. An expensive talking shop who get nothing done.

[ludermor]

Do you say the same to people or businesses who got flooded? Should the state cancel all aid to all natural occurrences?

Define aid?

If people's safety is in danger, of course the state should step in to help them, like they did last year. But I can't quite see the link between a natural disaster like a flash flood and a medium amount of snow. What Zapatista seems to be calling for is the state to step in and help farmers who were caught unprepared - and I don't think thats their role. If you are a farmer who has not enough feed for an emergency or no shelter for your livestock, boo hoo. People need to take some responsibility for their own behaviour here.

Thats not to say that roads etc shouldn't be gritted better and more often, but the Government can't be everywhere and fix every poxy thing that goes wrong.

Define disaster? The place i getting flooded every year now, its as natural ( or unnatural) as the cold spell w have just had. The farmers have enough feed most just have problems getting it to their stock. Its not their fault the Gov cannot treat the road so people countrywide cannot travel safely. The Gov has provided flood aid ( nothing to do with safety) every year for for flood victims so naturally you must feel they should stop this. and every household and business should have their ow flood defense system in place.

[ludermor]

No. What are you going to eat if the farmers go bust?

Many farmers across the country can't store food as they are getting no credit from banks much like all the other small business' out there. Many farmers couldn't get to their livestock to bring them to shelter as roads were closed.

If billions can be spent on criminal bankers then the army can spend a few days helping out struggling farmers. It is the role of the state to help those who were unprepared.

No, no it isn't. Firstly, snow of the 3 inch variety is not a natural disaster. Its 3 inches of snow. If a farmer cannot adapt to that, I fundamentally fail to see what the army can do to help him. Secondly, farmers, like all of us, should be prepared for a bit of snow in the middle of winter, and if they aren't, I fail to see why even more of my tax money should be spent to cover their inadequacies as farmers.

It isn't the role of the state to send the army in to feed cattle. Get a grip and take some responsibility for the fact that any farmer in this situation ballsed up by himself.

We have become a right nation of whingers. No-one seems willing to get off their arses and fix it themselves

No. No its not. It was a prolonged freezing spell that left most of the country roads mpassable and lots of rural roads with absolutely not treatment for the complete duration. 3 inches of snow will do f**k all but when it in the middle f several days frezing ice then i can be a huge problem. By your reasoning no road should be treated and everone should be accountable for themselves  or is it just the people living on the main arteries that deserve such luxuries

[tyssam5]

Some amount of whingers in the this country sitting on their arses waiting for the government to solve their problems, people sitting in the house for two weeks complaining about slippy footpaths, get out and clear it yourself.

[Declan]

get out and clear it yourself.

And leave yourself open to being sued if someone falls outside your home?

[rossie mad]

Im a part time farmer and while i did have siignificant difficulities the last 3 months with flooding,snow etc it wasnt near as bad as some of my friends and relatives who simply i cannot understand how they got through it.this was the case the last while and no one offered help from any goverenment department.
the army brought in to help feed animals im afraid was in extreme cases like the inishbofin island case in lough ree.
Yet when the slighest bit of snow hit the east coast last week the whole country seemed to be in a state of emergency when in fact it was the case since before christmas.
i lost a cow who needed a vet christmas eve but because of the treachous road conditions the vet was unable to come out to my sheds.i tried to keep her alive but in vain and i also lost the calf she was carrying.
Can i sue the council for loss of earnings for not making the roads to my sheds passable?
Highly unlikely.yet i pay tax for all my road vechicles which should go to the treatment of the roads in my county.
The above example is only one of thousands which people across alot of business areas had to face untold difficulities because we dont have the resources to make our roads passable during a freeze snap.
My womans father has a bad heart condition and unfortunately in my eyes is likely to have a heart attack in the near future hopefully im wrong but the nature of is illness leaves no other outcome.
If he had a heart attack in the last three weeks it would be a fact the man would have died because unless my tractor found a huge speed burst i didnt know it had that was the only way i or any of his family could have got him to a doctor never mind a hospital.

so i have to laugh at some of the comments on here.thousands upon thousands of people had to pull through serious problems the last three months and had to do so mostly by themselves and with minimal help from local authorities so if the army supply a few soldiers to help a farmer isolated on an island get some feed to his animals well its only a small gesture and the response by some people here really shows these people up to what they are really like.

[An Gaeilgoir]

Im a part time farmer and while i did have siignificant difficulities the last 3 months with flooding,snow etc it wasnt near as bad as some of my friends and relatives who simply i cannot understand how they got through it.this was the case the last while and no one offered help from any goverenment department.
the army brought in to help feed animals im afraid was in extreme cases like the inishbofin island case in lough ree.
Yet when the slighest bit of snow hit the east coast last week the whole country seemed to be in a state of emergency when in fact it was the case since before christmas.
i lost a cow who needed a vet christmas eve but because of the treachous road conditions the vet was unable to come out to my sheds.i tried to keep her alive but in vain and i also lost the calf she was carrying.
Can i sue the council for loss of earnings for not making the roads to my sheds passable?
Highly unlikely.yet i pay tax for all my road vechicles which should go to the treatment of the roads in my county.
The above example is only one of thousands which people across alot of business areas had to face untold difficulities because we dont have the resources to make our roads passable during a freeze snap.
My womans father has a bad heart condition and unfortunately in my eyes is likely to have a heart attack in the near future hopefully im wrong but the nature of is illness leaves no other outcome.
If he had a heart attack in the last three weeks it would be a fact the man would have died because unless my tractor found a huge speed burst i didnt know it had that was the only way i or any of his family could have got him to a doctor never mind a hospital.

so i have to laugh at some of the comments on here.thousands upon thousands of people had to pull through serious problems the last three months and had to do so mostly by themselves and with minimal help from local authorities so if the army supply a few soldiers to help a farmer isolated on an island get some feed to his animals well its only a small gesture and the response by some people here really shows these people up to what they are really like.

Agree completely with what you say, The first snow fell on Dec. 18th in Mayo .Luckily, we live close to a main road, but there are loads of families near us who live on higher ground are still experiencing difficulties with feeding their own animals and their neighbours animals as well. I paid over 1100 euros to Mayo county council this year in road tax for two cars. I couldn't use the road due to the conditions for almost 3 weeks, i wonder will i get a refund? Rural Ireland, especially the west, is not a priority for our esteemed Sandymount Minister. O Cuiv was on Frontline last night telling us that there was no need to fill sandbags for the expected Cork flooding as they weren't sure it was going to happen today........... heard a man on the radio from Cork this evening, 3rd time in eight weeks his house has been flooded. His area of Cork never flooded before November, Maybe O Cuiv could swap houses with him for a few weeks and see how nice it is to stay awake at night when the rain starts to fall, just in case the house floods. Finally, all day the people in Dublin were told to conserve water, I was out on the T2 site today in the airport, where a 100mm mains water main was hit by a digger yesterday morning (36 hours previously), still flowing away at 3 bar of pressure. When told about it, the DAA  claimed the maintenance needed more time to repair it............ incompetence is everywhere.

[rossie mad]

Gaeilgoir i would have voted for some of these cabbages in government and for local councillors as well but the first election that comes god help any of them if they come looking for votes.

I spent two hours speaking to three county councillors on the 27th of december pleading with them to get grit on a secondary road that passes through my parish and which was a virtual no go area.

The response i got was the road was not important enough.
Yet it would be the main road for at least 50 to 60 families maybe even more to try to get to town for food or supplies for animals.
I felt so helpless but seeemingly nothing could have been done.
I and three of my friends proceeded to treat the most dangerous parts with some chippings and sand but it was like pissing against the wind it was as bad the next day.

I seen o cuiv last night alright but i have to say i feel sorry for him.
He always seems to get these tv roles when the goverment f**ks up and they have no fall guy to go back on so they send in o cuiv to take the heat and the irony of it all is he is the only cheif minister from connacht as far as i know

Where was gormley or dempsey last night the so called men at the controls co-ordinating the so called response?

Shower of cowards in my eyes.

it was snowing heavy here again tonite and when i came in from feeding i turned on the news on rte 2 and they had as their headlines the seemingly heavy snow in dundrun and sandymount.i had to laugh. 

Now im not downgrading the plight of people in dublin as they have to get to their jobs too but do rte actually realise there are people living outside the pale.

[tyssam5]

get out and clear it yourself.

And leave yourself open to being sued if someone falls outside your home?

Sounds like a good excuse for being lazy. A society of suers and spongers.

[Declan]

Sounds like a good excuse for being lazy. A society of suers and spongers.

Not an excuse. The reality of the situation is that if you clear the footpath outside your house and someone falls and injures themselves you the householder are liable - Other countries state that you are obliged to clean the area outside your own premises.