By Sean Moriarty

The Cathaoirleach of Killarney Municipal District Cllr Marie Moloney has thanked members of the public in Kerry for their patience and cooperation during Storm Barra.

She paid tribute to local authority staff and the emergency services for their work in dealing with road closures and other challenges over the past few days.

“I want to thank the Emergency Services, Kerry County Council staff and ESB staff, who were out day and night,” she told the Killarney Advertiser.

“Thanks too to the public who stayed indoors as much as possible.”

There was widespread damage in the Killarney area during the two days of the storm. Several trees were knocked over, with one on Muckross Road and another on New Road causing the most disruption. Another tree was knocked over at the entrance to the Fair Hill car park.

The Ballycasheen area was declared out of bounds for a while on Tuesday as debris from a nearby premises was being blown on to the road.

The Chief Executive of Kerry County Council, Moira Murrell, said that the interagency cooperation in advance of Storm Barra was hugely important.

“The Kerry Severe Weather Coordination Team had been preparing for a Status Red alert for several days and met regularly to coordinate the response,” she said.

“Our crews responded to the issues which arose when it was safe to do so and ensured that routes were reopened as soon as possible.

“I would like to thank the many agencies who assisted in coordinating the response including An Garda Síochána, the HSE, ESB Networks, Kerry Fire Service and Kerry Civil Defence.”