Longford MEP: Government could have acted sooner on generators ahead of Storm Éowyn

The EU Emergency Response Chief has confirmed to Independent Ireland and Longford MEP Ciaran Mullooly that EU help could have been on standby before Storm Éowyn hit Ireland. 

At the recent European Parliament’s Committee on Budgets (BUDG), MEP Ciaran Mullooly questioned Marco Panigalli, the EU’s Head of Civil Protection Emergency Response, on whether emergency assistance could have been placed on standby when the Irish Government received advanced warning of Storm Éowyn.

Mullooly asked Mr Panigalli about the possibility of pre-activating EU resources, asking if help could have been ready to deploy before the storm hit, given the clear and specific alerts provided by the Commission.

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Reflecting on the devastation caused by Storm Éowyn on January 24, MEP Mullooly said, “Our people will remember the events of that morning, when Storm Éowyn hit our shores with wind speeds of 184 kilometres per hour, causing havoc and leaving 760,000 people without electricity. We were fortunate not to have major loss of life, and I am grateful for the support of the Commission and Commissioner Labib, who responded immediately to my request for EU assistance.”

However, MEP Mullooly drew attention to a critical issue: “The early warning system worked superbly. The Commission informed the Irish authorities the day before the storm, warning that it would cause damage the likes of which had never been seen before. But the Irish Government, for whatever reason, did not officially apply to activate the Union Civil Protection Mechanism until 36 hours after the storm.”

He pressed the point further: “With such specific information, is it possible for the mechanism to be activated before the storm? If the process had started early, we could have cut down significantly on the hardship for people involved. When the information is specific, we must wake up and say we must avoid the damage, bring in the generators, support the people, and help save lives.”

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Responding to these concerns, Marco Panigalli, Head of the Civil Protection Emergency Response Capabilities Unit at DG ECHO, stated: “We are not responsible. We cannot push the countries to activate. It is their responsibility to activate. We are in constant contact with the countries, but it is their responsibility.” He added, “If we see with our instruments that there might be a catastrophe which is looming, then the mechanism can be pre-activated—meaning that the capacities are on standby, ready to be deployed.”

Mr Panigalli also pointed to new approaches: “Since 2022, we have created a system of pre-positioning of forest fire fighters in some countries which are prone to forest fires. These teams are there, pre-positioned for weeks or months, because we expect that there will be forest fires one day or the other.”

MEP Mullooly remarked, “Prevention is always a choice, and it is essential that we learn from this experience to ensure that Ireland is better prepared for future storms. We need to have better planning in place and arrange assistance in advance where possible. It is not enough to simply react after the fact, we must anticipate risks and have the necessary support lined up to safeguard lives and livelihoods.”

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