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27th Feb 2018

Minister for Housing reveals what will happen to schools and transport services if Red Alert issued

Alan Loughnane

schools

The Beast from the East draws closer and could affect schools…

As the significant weather event threatens to hit Ireland on Tuesday, the Irish public are preparing themselves for some unseasonably cold weather for this time of the year.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy said: “When we move to a Red Alert, that would tend to mean you are going to be automatically closing down the school transportation system.

“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.”

Murphy moved to reassure the public that they’d learned the mistakes from the big freeze in 2010 where salt and grit supplies dwindled to critical levels, leaving many roads untreated and people stranded in their own homes.

He said that there’s adequate supply of salt and grit to treat the roads and pathways for a significant period of time, and certainly enough to cover the current cold snap.

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