Emergencies do not stop at borders

Resilient Neighbours cross-border initiative

- Veronica Corr -

A new initiative is seeking to ensure local people are safer, better informed and equipped to deal with future cross-border emergencies.

The inaugural meeting of stakeholders in the Resilient Neighbours PeacePlus Project, led by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council in partnership with Monaghan Co Council, took place in Monaghan last Friday morning.

This three-year initiative secured €2.3M in funding. The Office of Emergency Planning (ROI) and the Executive Office (NI) are also involved. It brings together emergency services, local authorities, voluntary organisations and community groups to strengthen co-operation before, during and after emergencies such as severe weather, flooding, infrastructural disruption and other major incidents.

The project recognises that emergencies do not stop at borders. Resilient Neighbours will work to remove practical and administrative barriers that can slow down cross-border emergency response. A shared cross-border risk register will help to identify the risks facing the region, ensuring that emergency services and communities are better prepared. Training will improve co-ordination while building relationships. A community resilience tool kit will be trialled in the latter stages of the programme.

Alison McCullagh, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s Chief Executive, said that they were delighted to receive the funding to build on work already underway in partnership with the local authority. The two councils, in conjunction with Maynooth University’s International Centre for Local and Regional Development, are conducting research regarding specific impacts on border communities.

“Emergencies are becoming more frequent and wide-ranging. This is about building the capacity of our community sector, residents within our districts and our cross-border partners. This project has three strands: Coordinating Emergency Services; Community Cohesion and Resilience; and Best Practice,” she said.

Robert Burns, Chief Executive (CE) of Monaghan Co Council, welcomed the first meeting of the important body as timely, recognising the excellent working relationship the local authority here enjoyed with their Northern Irish counterparts, also acknowledging PeacePlus for the project.

“While the project itself is quite complex, Resilient Neighbours is about understanding the risk from severe weather and other emergencies that might happen on either side of the border. I think all our citizens, whatever jurisdiction they are in, deserve to have the right information and adequate response from the emergency services and the first responders, if we do have a severe weather event, or God forbid a terrible accident.”

The CE added that, while communities are affected by storms etc, he observed that they can form part of the solution too, using the example of council-supported community hubs, that sprang up in the wake of Storm Éoywn: “There is a resource and appetite within our communities,” he said.

Barry McElduff (SF), Chairperson of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, told the Celt: “We have the one geography, the one landscape. Storms, flooding, fires and emergency calls do not respect artificial borders. It is important that we come together for this type of resilience planning."

He called for greater resources for these type of projects and linkages.

Leas-Cathaoirleach of Monaghan Co Council Richard Truell (FG) applauded what he described as a wonderful initiative, which involves local authorities in the border region working together: “We need to have better co-operation and an understanding with our neighbouring local authority to deal with emergencies. Climate change is here, whether we like it or not. We are getting more storms and we need to tackle those head on. Public safety is the most important thing to both councils.

“We were not ready for Stormy Éoywn, the worst storm in living memory and it caused havoc. We need everybody on board, eg Coillte and ESB, to make sure that there are no trees along ESB wires. We don't want to be without electric for a prolonged period. This time we're better prepared, we've learnt a lot from experience.”

Chief Fire Officer with Monaghan Co Council, Dermot Brannigan, acknowledged the value of local authorities on both sides of the border being involved and the importance of training and researching international standards and best practice.

“This project enables a closer relationship between both jurisdictions but also looks at systems that can improve our response, capacity and enable a safer community overall,” he said.

The Fire Chief felt that the involvement of the emergency services was essential to the success of the initiative and buy-in from the community: “The last piece of this project will involve engaging directly with community leaders so that we can impart best practice on how to ensure that, when situations do arise, we are prepared and people understand their roles.”