Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Some eight months ago, in November, a freak tornado swept through south County Wexford, in particular in areas like Clongeen and Foulkesmill, leaving a trail of pure and utter devastation. To date, the people affected by this event have been lied to by local Fianna Fáil councillors, continually fobbed off and passed from one Minister to the next with no sight of any meaningful compensation or plan for same. Last week, a freak summer hailstorm caused havoc in Enniscorthy. Within minutes there were scenes of flooding along the quay and 2 ft of water swept through Wickham Bros. butchers and The Holy Grail restaurant, to name just two businesses. The storm has also destroyed the crop yield for local farmers. In November last I requested a number of times that the Taoiseach would visit the areas devastated by the tornado but he declined each time. Now it seems he is a fair-weather Taoiseach and he is going to visit our main county fair, the Killag show. When will meaningful engagement and recompense for all of those affected by these freak weather events be put in place? If it will not, will the Taoiseach tell them to their faces at the Killag show?

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