‘We hope the boxes are never needed’

A year after Storm Éowyn turned Ireland on its head, Corlough community feel a little bit better prepared for a similar future weather event.

After the hurricane hit on January 24, 2025, parts of this isolated West Cavan community were without power for 23 days, long after the rest of the country was regarding the storm as a bad memory.

About 20 people - local residents and councillors - gathered at Corlough Community Centre last Thursday evening for the hand over of 15 boxes with clever devices, which should prove helpful in the event of a sustained electrical outage. The contents included a gas camping stove, a phone charging pack, a torch and radio powered by a hand crank, hot water bottle, flask, even playing cards and a board game to help pass the time.

The boxes were funded by Cavan PPN and compiled by the network’s administrator Finian McNamara.

They will be stored at the community centre until needed; then Corlough Development Association will distribute them to those in the community identified as vulnerable.

The boxes are the fruits of a pilot project organised by Cavan Public Partnership and Corlough Community Development.

“What we realised in the aftermath of the storm was that we are vulnerable,” Agnes McManus-Dulake recalled. “This is now an opportunity for us to try to make ourselves more resilient as a rural community.”

Agnes attended a Cavan PPN event in Ballyconnell last summer and raised how Corlough had struggled. The seeds for this partnership with the PPN were thus planted.

She recalled how they had endured a warning of what was in store the month before when Storm Dara left them without power for five days.

“That had given us an inkling that we are at the end of a power line and, when power starts to be restored, we tend to be the last.”

Speaking in Corlough Hall, which had served as a community hub during the storm outage, Cavan PPN’s Sandra Nelson recalled the frightening “roar of the storm”.

“It struck with gusts of up to 184km/hr, heavy rain, significant floods, trees down, loss of power, never mind the sick, the elderly, the young - everybody was brought

to a standstill.”

Agnes recalled how her husband who, like her, is a nurse in Cavan General had to go to work at 5am.

“He was actually travelling at the worst part of the storm - he had got to the Slieve Russell but there was a tree down across the road, so he had to redivert down the Yellow Road, so it was an anxious time.”

Cathaoirleach John Paul Feeley was joined by council colleagues Aine Smith (FF), Niamh Brady (FG) and Damien Brady (SF) in the hall. The West Cavan man recalled how the councillors were all under pressure, trying to respond to calls from the communities. On a personal note, his family had their own concerns.

“We were waiting for the birth of a child - Siuin was born on the 28th, and however many days after that we were due to get out, the power came back that day and we were able to get home. “ Cllr Feeley added that while “we all suffered” this time last year, it also highlighted the great community spirit:

“We can’t do anything about storms, but we can make sure that we protect our powerlines and put hubs in place so that if things go wrong there is that level of support and access to the basics until we get things right.”

Echoing the sentiment of the storm cloud’s silver lining, Agnes recalled entering the community hub during the storm aftermath.

“I walked in the door, and it really struck me - this isn’t all negative. The hum of conversation and the smell of a warm dinner - it was lovely. There was an element that we hadn’t really sat as a community and chatted in a very long time. We got to know each other again. Storm Eowyn gave us that back - we actually sat around the table and talked to each other.”

Sandra congratulated the “inspirational” volunteers in Corlough who spoke up on behalf of their community.

“All you need is one small group rattling and making a noise and it can really make a difference. Well done.”

Agnes said that this pilot is just one project to help strengthen community bonds, alongside the GAA teams, the development association, Corlough First Responders, the ICA and others.

“I hope the boxes are never opened,” she quipped, describing them as a great resource for which they are hugely grateful.

“I think we are in a better place today as a parish for everything that has happened out of Storm Eowyn. It’s down to us to build on what we have here and having the next hub up and ready to go if this was to happen again.”