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IN THE WINTERS of 2009 and 2010, we had some of the worst cold weather seen in Ireland in decades.
First, what became known as the Big Freeze hit Ireland and the UK from December 2009 to March 2010.
Then in November and December 2010, we had what Met Éireann called an “extreme cold spell”, with sleet, snow, and temperatures below -10 degrees celsius in some areas.
It was the coldest winter in Ireland since 1963.
The first winter 2010 snowfall hit in November, and all the way up to Christmas more snowfalls and freezing temperatures added to the piles of snow on roads, paths, and in estates.
As Met Éireann recalled:
After an improvement in temperatures for five or six days, although still cold, it became extremely cold again from 16th with snow at times leading to significant accumulations and record low December temperatures. Daytime temperatures failed to go above freezing on many days during this period and we had 9 consecutive days when temperatures remained below zero in some areas. Night-time temperatures below -10°C became a regular feature, reaching as low as -17.5°C in Co. Mayo on 25th.
For transport operators, that meant a major headache. For Dublin Bus, it meant that their job – ferrying people around the city and its environs – instantly became trickier.
Joe Stobie, Area Operations Manager at central control in Dublin Bus, recalled the snowy days.
“We were still operating when everybody else was shut down. We just did what we always do – we kept going.”
“We basically just told the drivers, if you can go, keep going,” added Dublin Bus controller Mark Drew.
“If it takes three hours to get there, keep going,” emphasised Stobie. “And they just took their time and got everybody on.”
Dublin Bus sent its chief inspectors in staff cars out to assess the roads. Meanwhile, staff put salt out in front of depots to make sure buses could get out.
There are 14 chief inspectors in Dublin Bus, and seven staff cars. “Everyone had a snow shovel, snow spikes, bags of salt, and they just went out in the mornings at 4am and 4.30am checking bus routes and spread [salt] in front of bus stops,” said Stobie.
They kept all the buses out on the main corridors, and took all the buses out of the housing estates until the chief inspector could drive around and say if it was safe.
Indoors, the webpage was kept up to date, while the social media department and IT department were working hard to ensure passengers had all the essential information.
“We were telling people where the diversions where, where the buses were going and operating, what kind of services were going,” said Stobie.
And the chief inspector would go out when a bus got stuck, went out in a staff car, throwing salt out in front of the bus, get the bus moving again. We worked flat out for weeks and weeks and weeks.
The picture Stobie and Drew paint is one of a very busy and dedicated staff.
“People were coming in here early in the morning and going late at night,” said Stobie. “The commitment when things go wrong from our staff is unbelievable. Drivers will stay out there doing what they need to do, controllers will stay here. If we can get in to work, everyone can get in to work, with the exception of one or two.”
But people got out of bed an hour early to be in here at five o’clock in the morning. It’s just incredible.
While Dublin Bus has to deal with other bad weather events, like flooding, the snow was a different type of challenge.
“They were localised. Snow was everywhere. It was just catastrophic.”
Ireland wasn’t prepared for the freezing temperatures of the winter of 2010. Afterwards, all the agencies sat down and did a review, to ensure that if the same thing ever happened again, Ireland would be ready.
Last year, the National Roads Authority told us that it used 200,000 tonnes of salt in 2010 – and for winter 2014 it had stocked up with 230,000 tonnes just in case. Luckily, that wasn’t needed.
When it gets to anything around freezing temperatures you have to treat it, you don’t want to risk not treating it. So, we do it on a case-by-case basis. I don’t think people realise we’re doing it all the time.
The ESB also said that it has up-to-date contingency plans for poor weather conditions (like the numerous storms that have hit Ireland this year).
Snow memories
Here’s what some of our reporters remembered from the 2010 snow:
Paul Hosford: The 39 goes down and up a hill at the M50 and on one day it couldn’t do it and got stuck. The 239 was cancelled meaning I couldn’t get to Lucan at the time, so I walked the backroads to work and got a lift home off a Polish couple who stopped and helped me. Sound.
Michelle Hennessy: We went to a gig NYE that year and had a snowball fight on the way back to a friend’s. I also remember it took me two hours to get home from town on Christmas Eve. It was usually a 40 minute journey at most and that’s when traffic is really bad.
Cianan Brennan: I remember walking to work on Christmas Eve and it being -11 when I left the house.
Nicky Ryan: I remember being on the 19A I think it was then going to town, and the bus could barely make it up Mobhi Road, it kept on sliding to one side. Everyone on the bus went quiet because it repeatedly seemed like we were about to hit other cars.
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Formerly the most stable state in the Middle-East. Hundreds of thousands dead and fundamental islamists set to capitalize on it. All because they decided to talk about pricing oil in Euro instead of the US dollar.
Truly terrifying what you can do with public opinion and a large military budget.
They’ve had a horrible last 50 years. First Saddam, now this. Terrible.
Re R H Beige Lark.
Well said. Libya was invaded for the same reason. It was going to take oil payments in anything, commodities, gold, euro etc. The threat to the Petrodollar was too much. I’m afraid Iran will go the same way unless they start taking payments in dollars again for their oil.
The US is a country teetering on the brink financially and the last thing they want is any upstart threatening to stop using Petrodollars. I believe the US government knows it is close to the abyss and hence the Sandy Hook massacre and Boston bombing events which have been orchestrated and planned to take more rights away from citizens, especially attempt to get high powered weapons away from people with subsequent pre planned legislation.
Libya actually had an excellent way of ending debt in African countries, they were about to introduce an African gold standard that countries would have to use to pay for African commodities
Couple of weeks later Libya is no more and the other African leaders are put back in their place
Gaddafi actually had some very bright ideas to make the middle east a very financially stable region, unfortunately it involve a threat to the petroldollar. If Libya and the others involve put their plan into action it would have put the dollar into a early grave by showing it’s true overwashed value. But hey they showed us that Libya, afgan and Iraq were evil countries that were a threat to mankind. We found the true hero’s in the middleeast like Saudi Arabia were it’s traditional to stone a woman to for wearing a dress that exposes flesh.
Sandy hook was orchestrated?! What a despicable comment!
You mean the same Iraq that gassed their own civilians? Or the same Libya which was trying to establish a modern empire of its own by invading and trying to annex Mali?
Rose-tinted glasses work both ways.
Seoirse, you are reaching a low with your comments. You are reading from the same script as b Lowe.
Niall, so if a African country receives gold for commodities what happens then? Please elaborate? There is a reason why the gold standard was dropped. Not every country has reserves of gold so how would they trade with Africa?
Must make a correction, I was referring to Libyan expansionism in Chad, not any involvement in Mali.
Re Niall.
You are exactly right with the gold dinar system Gaddafi was close to implementing.
The French President st the time, President Sarkozy, called it the greatest threat on history to the financial existence of mankind(wherein mankind for Sarkozy was France and a handful of other Western countries).
Imagine a system that was one of the greatest threats to mankind as described by an imperialist and it received zero coverage in Western media outlets.
Ah yes, the great legacy of the US/UK unprovoked illegal invasion and the papers still play the pipers tune.
A recent survey on the UK found the majority of people think fewer than 10,000 have died in Iraq since the invasion. Good to see Western media is giving an unbiased and objective accounting of Iraq over the years.
How can George Bush look in the mirror with all the murders and killings he has caused. He should be strung up and locked away for life and charged with war crimes!!! It breaks my heart every time I read about this :(
Sunni and Shia Muslims where killing each other centuries before anybody ever heard of George Bush or even America for that matter.
Re Al Shamen.
Yes, your point is valid but it is an inconsequential one.
The point is as a result of US stupidity this has been allowed to fester and there is an abundance of weapons available for these guys mow since General Petraeus started to arm these guys.
Iraq has always been awash with weapons.Apparently most households have access to an AK47.
Most of the weapons Al Qaeda use are Eastern Bloc.America has a lot to answer for but you cannot blame them for a centuries old sectarian feud that predates the foundation of that country.
Al Shamen – The US is awash with weapons too. Apparently most households have access to something that shoots bullets and they want to keep it that way. People get killed there in their droves on a daily basis and their human rights record is frankly appalling. There has also been civil war, sectarian strife and effective apartheid in the US within the last century. It has also engaged in criminal foreign wars. Again it is an irrelvancy to what has been said here.
Nobody has blamed the US for there having been age-old sectarianism in Iraq – though the CIAs involvement in keeping various factions at war is legendary – but people are right to expect the US to answer for its actions in recent times and to expect some sort of defence of those actions without it pulling in excuses like “there was always trouble so we can be excused of what we did to them”.
Well it was America who formed and funded the Al Queda to help them against the Russians, so America does have alot to answer for.
Democracy, don’t ya just love it! They do!
Every dog on the street knows the invasion was based on utter lies and a direct consequence of those lies is one and half million people dead……..spreading democracy ?? spreading death and destruction !!
Freedom!
Well Mr jingles freedom is what we have but when I look around all I see is people trapped in financial pain, there is a big problem with the system
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