A status orange weather kicks in for seven counties on Tuesday afternoon.
Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton TD, says that a decision to close schools will be left up to individual schools in local areas “depending on the circumstances” as Ireland braces itself for inclement weather from the so-called Beast from the East.
On Tuesday, Bruton said that the Department of Education will continue to monitor the situation as the week progresses and will follow any advice issued by the National Emergency Coordination Group (NECG).
There is a status orange warning in place for this evening & overnight for some counties. There is a yellow warning for some other counties. Decisions on school closures will be made locally by each school individually depending on the circumstances in their area#beastfromtheeast
— Richard Bruton (@RichardbrutonTD) February 27, 2018
We will continue to monitor the situation as it progresses later in the week & will follow any advice from the National Emergency Coordination Group #beastfromtheeast
— Richard Bruton (@RichardbrutonTD) February 27, 2018
A status orange snow-ice warning for Dublin, Carlow, Kildare, Laois, Louth, Wicklow and Meath comes into effect at 3pm on Tuesday, while a status yellow snow-ice warning comes into effect for Kilkenny, Longford, Wexford, Offaly, Westmeath, Cork, Tipperary and Waterford at 6pm.
Both warnings will remain in effect until 11am on Wednesday morning, but there is a possibility that a status red weather warning will be issued later in the week, with snow and ice expected to make an impact throughout the country into the weekend.
Speaking on Morning Ireland on Tuesday, Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy said that if a status red weather warning is issued, schools are likely to close as a result.
“When we move to a Red Alert, that would tend to mean you are going to be automatically closing down the school transportation system,” Murphy said.
“It will have more of an effect on some schools than others… and it depends how far that Red Alert is extended.
“If we get to a time when we do have a Red Alert, that will have an impact on certain schools.
“That will be a call that will be made by the National Emergency Coordination Group with the Department of Education being represented in the group.
“If we go to Status Red, we’ll be giving very direct advice to some schools to close.”
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