Mayo councillor praises resilience of Roscommon community during forest fire

A MAYO councillor has asked her colleagues to show support to a neighbouring Roscommon community following a devastating forest fire.

Hundreds of acres of forestry and bogland was destroyed in the blaze in Gortaganny and the surrounding area of west Roscommon last month. Several acres of mature forestry, with an estimated value of €10,000 per acre, was destroyed in the locality while households and livestock close to the blaze had to be evacuated as a precaution.

Fire crews from Ballyhaunis and Claremorris joined their colleagues in Roscommon to tackle the blaze which lasted over three days before it was brought under control.

Speaking at the Claremorris/Swinford Municipal District monthly meeting, Ballyhaunis-based councillor Alma Gallagher praised the work of the Mayo fire service in coming to the assistance of their neighbours.

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“I know it is a different county but yet it is only about 2km from Ballyhaunis and this is one instance where Roscommon and Mayo can forget about their rivalry and come together for a change,” she said.

The Fine Gael councillor said she attended a public meeting organised by the Gortaganny Community Development and praised the community for coming together at a time of tragedy. She asked her colleagues to send a letter to the Gortaganny community to praise them for the resilience shown during the fire.

“I want to congratulate the chairperson of the Gortaganny Community Development and the community for showing such resilience and compassion for the emergency services. I am wondering if it would be appropriate given that our own emergency services had done such fantastic work to write to the Gortaganny Community Development and show our support as a municipal district of their resilience and highlight the services we as a municipal district have invested in the emergency services in Gortaganny,” she said.

The meeting was attended by a number of public representatives from Roscommon and Mayo who called for the reopening of the Castlerea Fire Station which has been closed since 2017. Cllr Gallagher said this would be a fantastic development as it would ease the pressure on the Claremorris services and Ballyhaunis services as well'.

“Enda Caulfied [station officer of Ballyhaunis fire station] spoke of the pressures of the fire teams there and at the moment their calls are the equivalent to the full calls they had last year. That is how much under pressure they are under. Only two nights ago they attended two forest fires despite the rain so it goes to show that despite the rain it goes to show in terms of the climate how under pressure they are,” she commented.