Kathriona Devereux: We need to add some comforts to our emergency preparedness list

Roy Keane famously used the phrase ‘Fail to prepare, prepare to fail’ during the 2002 Saipan World Cup controversy. It’s a motto I forever associate with him, and I’ve been known to deploy it on occasion. It provides a boost of motivation to put in the study hours, to perfect the details in planning an event, even to embrace the tedious prep work of painting your front room.

It’s what came to mind reading the government’s new ‘Be Emergency Ready’ campaign booklet. Two million booklets are going to pop through our letterboxes soon, encouraging us to prepare for an emergency.

Discussions about climate chaos, a potential AI apocalypse, far-right threats to democracy, ongoing genocide, cyber or drone attacks and all the other world crises you care to worry about are converging to create a pervading “end is nigh” atmosphere - so here’s a booklet with a checklist to help you get through the tough days.

You can distract yourself from the anxiety-inducing woes of the world by squirrelling away water, non-perishable food and firewood! On the surface, it’s all easily achievable until you drill into the details. I assume I have plenty of tinned food in the cupboard until I check and it’s actually just cans of chopped tomatoes, chickpeas and sweetcorn - not the most delicious dinner combo. I’ll have to stock up on things that can be heated up quickly.

“Keep a torch or lamp with spare batteries.” Easy, we definitely have those. But could I put my hand to it without a protracted rummage in the garage knocking over rakes and pots of paint in the process? Eh no. I couldn’t even find the torch in non-emergency daylight. Ok, so that’s a job for the emergency planning list.

“Keep a battery, wind-up or solar radio and spare batteries, or use a car radio as backup.” Nope. We only have a radio reliant on an electric plug - no good in a power outage. There’s other advice to keep important documents like birth certificates and passports in a waterproof bag - an old biscuit tin on top of your wardrobe won’t do, no?

This push by the government is part of an EU-wide effort to ask every citizen in the bloc to keep at least 72 hours’ worth of food, water, medicine, batteries and important documents on hand, citing everything from floods and wildfires to cyberattacks and “geopolitical tensions” as potential emergencies to contend with.

Could we get a grant for this emergency preparedness in the upcoming budget? This prepping business is pricey. A battery radio, powerbank, and 50 litres of water all add up. I know people who invested in a generator after the protracted power outages of Storm Éowyn in January 2025 - they were willing to splash a few hundred euro for the peace of mind of not being without electricity again for weeks. But for some that level of investment is beyond them.

If that all feels like a lot of additional work and expense, spare a thought for the Finns. Their government’s emergency planning is much wider-ranging and has advice on everything from radiation threats “make sure you have durable tape at home that you can use to seal off windows, doors and other areas with air flow”, to military conflicts and civil defence: “All Finnish citizens have a national defence obligation, and everyone plays an important role in defending Finland”, to disruption of payment systems: “make sure you have enough cash to purchase essential everyday supplies for a few days without a debit or credit card.” The Finns pay attention to this advice. Half of Finns estimate their level of preparedness to be in line with the national 72-hour recommendation of the authorities. The majority see that households’ preparedness plays an important role in ensuring society’s resilience to a crisis. According to a survey by the Finnish National Rescue Association, major water supply disruptions and prolonged power outages were the most challenging situations, with just 35% of respondents saying they have stocked bottled water to last for three days. I wonder what Irish survey results would be?

The Be Emergency Ready booklet seems to think Irish people will read the booklet and roll their eyes. The refrain “Do what you can: Some preparation is better than no preparation at all” repeats throughout the booklet. Obviously, not everyone has the space to store three litres of water per household member for three days, but having some stash will give peace of mind. But if Roy Keane was in charge, he would be saying “just get on with it”.

I know emergency preparedness is a serious matter, but on a lighter note I was slightly disappointed that the Irish booklet didn’t contain a recommendation to always have a spare box of tea in the house. We call it a “tea-mergency” if we find ourselves without a teabag to start the day.

In the week that the Taoiseach raised the importance of Barry’s Tea on the international diplomatic stage (and discovered that the British Prime Minister drinks thirteen cups of tea a day!), it would have been appropriate if the Irish emergency booklet included a recommendation to stock up on some comforting items to get through a crisis.

So, before the storms start lining up in the Atlantic and unleashing their force on us, like a good citizen I will be diligently ticking things off the checklist in the coming weeks. But I will be adding Barry’s Tea and chocolate HobNobs to my safety stash, because we all know the importance of a cupán tae in an emergency.