Mr. Seán Ó Domhnaill:

I thank the committee for this opportunity to give the review from this side of the country and our involvement here. I am the manager of a community co-operative, Comharchumann Mhic Dara, which is based in An Cheathrú Rua in the Gaeltacht of County Galway. The main aim of Comharchumann Mhic Dara is to promote economic, social, language and cultural development in the An Cheathrú Rua area. We own and manage a community centre here, An Crompán, which has ten classrooms, a sports hall, changing facilities, shower facilities, a canteen, offices, a scuba diving centre and a Gteic for our digital hub. All this was possible because of the comharchumann, through the community here, Údarás na Gaeltachta and Roinn na Gaeltachta.

On 24 January 2025, Storm Éowyn was one of the most destructive storms in recent memory, prompting nationwide red wind warnings. We are based probably in one of the hardest hit areas and the impacts were extremely damaging for all. I saw this at first hand, as I am also a subofficer in the retained fire service here in An Cheathrú Rua. I saw it from both sides. On Monday evening, after the storm on 27 January, I received a call from Údarás na Gaeltachta and Roinn na Gaeltachta asking whether the comharchumann would be willing to open its facilities to the community, to which the committee and management agreed straight away. I then received a call from Galway County Council asking whether we would use a generator if we received one. I said we would use this facility, if any of them was available. Luckily, the electricity came back to us the next morning, Tuesday, which made it possible for us to open our doors to all here. We used the media to make sure everyone knew what was going on and the surrounding communities knew what was available here regarding all normal goings on. We were able to give them hot tea, coffee and drinking water and refreshments, provide charging of electronic equipment, hot shower facilities, clothes washing facilities if needed but, most importantly, a safe place for the community, young and old, to go to, and to also get documents required regarding entitlements due to the storm.

On Tuesday morning, the Minister, Deputy Calleary, held a meeting in our facilities, An Crompán, with State bodies, An Garda Síochána, Galway County Council and all the media that were in the area that was badly hit regarding the storm. This also had a positive effect in that the damage and destruction was seen at first hand by the Minister and all his staff. Our facilities stayed open for 17 days on the request of Galway County Council to all who needed them, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week and the figures showed that well over 600 people availed of this service in that time. The comharchumann now is in the process of undertaking the design and costs of setting up a generator system for our facilities here for when needed again in time of need, which we know is not that far away from us.

I take this opportunity to praise the committee and management of the comharchumann, Roinn na Gaeltachta, the Minister, Deputy Calleary, and his team, the Údarás na Gaeltachta directors and their team, the team from Galway County Council, and the emergency services and public services for all their efforts during this challenging time. They showed great team work, professionalism and togetherness whenever possible during this bad time we had.