Tánaiste rejects Peadar Tóibín’s criticism of Met Éireann weather warnings

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Tánaiste Micheál Martin has rejected an opposition TD’s criticism of winter weather warnings.

The cold snap has caused temperatures to plummet to -7.5 degrees in parts, and left tens of thousands of people without power and water.

Mr Martin said Met Éireann, which issued, revised and upgraded several weather warnings this week, had his support and the backing of the Government.

He said the blast of Arctic air has caused “quite challenging and difficult” conditions.

Aontu leader Peadar Tóibín said the issuing of an Orange low temperature warning was “crazy”, adding: “This is not abnormal winter weather.”

Mr Tóibín also criticised the closure of schools in some areas which he deemed to be “perfectly safe” for travel.

He said Met Éireann did a “good job” but argued that “over the top” weather warnings could lead to the advisories being devalued.

Asked about the comments on Thursday, Mr Martin said: “I would reject that entirely.”

He added: “It was not normal weather. It was in parts quite challenging and difficult.”

However, Mr Martin said: “No one was catastrophising anything. And I think we need to be careful there, because – and I accept politicians are entitled to form opinions – but we’ve got to trust our agencies. We’ve got to trust Met Éireann.

“It’s extremely difficult to get absolute precision in relation to forecasting. But we’ve very good quality people who are internationally well-recognised for their quality, academic standards and abilities.”

He added: “Ultimately, it’s the precautionary principle. It’s about protecting lives, and the warnings are timely and needed to protect lives, avoid injury.”

Mr Martin said there had been “a lot of sceptics” in the 24 hours after the initial warnings.

He added: “But I think we found out Met Éireann were correct”.

Mr Martin said there had been sufficient warning but questioned whether people “didn’t appreciate that it would be that severe”.