Last Friday morning, 24th January Storm Eowyn brought challenges to the whole country and it has given us all many learnings. The team here have been magnificent and from the time we received the severe storm warning on Thursday last have stepped up the mark. Eighteen staff came into the nursing home and slept on mattresses on Thursday night to ensure they were on site to look after the residents on Friday morning. Other staff braved extreme weather conditions including one staff member who cycled 1.5 hours to get to work and another who walked to work when her car sustained a puncture.
The nursing home has an emergency backup plan and systems in place for such an emergency however our backup generator did cause problems on Saturday . We luckily sourced another from Wicklow and want to extend huge thanks to our friend Dermot Finn who got it to us with no time to lose. The support we have received from our staff, our residents families and our own neighbours and friends is proof positive that the worst of times can bring out the best in people. We are luckily part of a wonderful community in Charlestown and its townlands and many of the local businesses helped out with various requirements over the past few days. The whole team was calm and collected and spirits were high at all times. We want to say thanks and keep up the good work to all those who continue to work hard to get all family homes reconnected.