‘The people of Portlaoise felt abandoned’ during the recent cold snap

“The people of Portlaoise felt abandoned” during the recent cold snap, Laois County Council has heard.

Speaking at the first meeting of the Portlaoise Municipal District for 2025, Councillor Catherine Fitzgerald tabled a motion for the Council to provide salt bins in the town.

In light of the recent cold snap, the Fianna Fáil Councillor Cllr Fitzgerald asked that these provisions “during dangerous winter conditions including snow and frost.”

Temperatures reached lows of -8° Celsius with an orange weather warning from Met Eireann covering most of the county in early January.

Roads, footpaths and car parks around the county were blighted by perilously dangerous patches of unthawed snow and ice.

Cllr Fitzgerald said “the people in Portlaoise felt abandoned in the recent bad weather.

“People were trapped in their homes for days; footpaths were lethal and so were the roads.

“If we had a system where salt was dropped in most estates the people themselves would go out and do it.

“It would at least give people a chance to help in the community so people could at least get out of the house and walk on the footpaths.

“We’re going to have more incidents of weather like that in the future and we need to be better equipped to deal with it.”

Mr Wes Wilkinson, Senior Executive Engineer at the Portlaoise Municipal District’s Roads Office, said:

“The Portlaoise MD Area Office proposes to install salt bins at eight locations in Portlaoise where there are steep hills or inclines on the entrance roads to estates.”

The areas outlined are as follows:

• Ardán Glas
• Ashton Manor
• Borris Little
• Highfield Meadows
• Kilminchy
• Ratgevan Heights
• Rossdarragh Hill
• St Brigid’s Place

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