Residents being dug out yesterday due to snow on Co Kildare border

Residents were dug out of Kilmalum and Slieverua on the Kildare/Wicklow border just yesterday.

The final Kildare residents were being rescued from the snow yesterday, over a week from the first snowfalls.

James Lawless TD said that it was a phenomenal effort from local residents, volunteers, Kildare County Council and Kildare Civil Defence and paid tribute to all involved. Diggers reached the top of Cromwellstown Hill, Kilteel on Tuesday afternoon and the last residents were dug out of Kilmalum and Slieverua on the Kildare/Wicklow border just yesterday. 

Deputy Lawless said "The council did their very best but they were just over-stretched and private contractors and local volunteers made heroic efforts in many cases to get to people. It was a fantastic example of community resilience and people looking after each other, from residents in Sallins meeting on Sunday to clear footpaths to school, to residents in upper Kilteel and Rathmore supplying each other with food parcels, to all the estates across Naas, Kill, Clane and across the county, getting stuck in with shovels and machinery themselves, to assist the council efforts" said Deputy Lawless.

He saidL"Civil defence were also amazing, I witnessed one man being rescued from the snow after being stuck down the farm overnight in the middle of the drifts, they also provided supplies to those areas that were inaccessible by car for some days. It is incredible to think that almost a week after the snow, when most of the country was back to normal, there were still people in Kildare completely cut off"

Deputy Lawless said:"The clean-up in urban areas is underway, with snow piles being lifted off the main streets of the towns and the army playing a big role in clearing footpaths over the past few days, especially around schools."