Lessons from storms need to be learnt says Knock priest

Almost two weeks into the aftermath of Storm Éowyn the country is still recovering. Fr Richard Gibbons PP and Rector of Knock Shrine said there are still people out there without power and people still need to “keep an eye and keep watch.”

With all the work being done to recover “shredded” cables and transformers, Fr Gibbons believes the storm resulted in “an awful lot of lessons that need to be learned for the next time that this happens.”

After the storm left many households without power, heat and water, the Parish of Knock opened the doors of St John’s Rest Care Centre to those in need of a hot drink or phone charging.

Fr Gibbons said the Care Centre was damaged during the storm. They worked to secure it first and then “decided to turn [it] into a soup kitchen.” People joined not only for a hot meal and warm place, the priest said, “we gathered for company as well.”

Knock Shrine has its own generator, which allowed them to receive the community in need. “There was a great sense of camaraderie and a great sense of cooperation and looking out for one another, especially the older people of the parish, because we have quite a lot of elderly people living in this parish,” the priest said.

Knock House Hotel set aside two shower units for people, “and the rest of the hotel was occupied with people that couldn’t live on their own because they were elderly and vulnerable. So, the hotel catered for them,” Fr Gibbons said.

Fr Gibbons said that “people came together, they did what they do best in a time of crisis: they looked out for each other.”

Fr Tom Grufferty, who lives in the Carrowmore Meadows Retirement Village said they also “cooked meals where possible for others, visited homes and spoke to one another.” For him, “Christianity has a glorious future… this is just one example of the Church of the future.”

Another example of the solidarity experienced in Ireland in the past month, Glenstal Abbey said in a statement that it was thanks to the maintenance crew, kitchen team and colleagues that they were able to keep open throughout the snow and storms of January.