Community groups in Leitrim town are coming together to buy a generator as they 'can't wait any longer'

With the much sought after new generators for Leitrim not set to be in place until next March at the earliest, community groups in Ballinmore are coming together to buy their own generator so they won't be left in the dark this Winter. 

At a meeting in Ballinamore, it was also revealed that Leitrim County council will hire generators in the event of a storm.

Cllr Gary Prior asked if the council had "made moves on identifying hubs around the county and reaching out to get those hubs wired up before Christmas. We are hoping that some of them will be operational before Christmas. I'm asking if we could get an agreement from the council to hire generators in the event of a storm. Generators won't be onsite before March next year so could the council look into how much it will cost to hire a generator? We'd only need maybe three; if we are in a position where the hubs are wired."

He said that he was aware that three groups are going to come together to buy a generator. "We have a group willing to put the funds together to buy a generator and set up a secondary hub in a matter of weeks. They feel they just can't wait any longer for the department or the council to get these in place so they are taking it upon themselves."

He asked: "Would Leitrim County Council lease a generator in the event of a storm?"

He said he understood the machine will cost in the region of €10,000. 

David Minton, director of services, confirmed that the council will hire generators in the event of a storm. "Our storm preparation includes sourcing the provision of water pumps; we secured two water pumps at Leitrim Village to meet the risk of river levels increasing there and flooding."

Referring to the leasing of generators, he said after Storm Éowyn, "the whole country was looking for generators so it's about securing them. We have looked into prices for them. We will hire generators in the situation of a storm."

Funding for those with disabilities 

Cllr Ita Reynolds Flynn asked Leitrim County council if there was any funding available to elderly residents to pay for generators in their homes "as we move into storm season."

Cllr Reynolds-Flynn, who is chairperson of Leitrim Association of People with Disabilities (LAPWD), said that it had been raised at a meeting. "If there was a grant or some funding for those with disabilities. One person had an electric wheelchair and once the power went out, he was in a bad way. They wanted to buy a generator for him but he thought it would be better to find funding for it."

The official response said that the council have made no provision within the recently approved budget to fund the provision of generators on the properties occupied by our elderly council tenants and that significant electrical works would also be required. 

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Cllr Reynolds-Flynn said there were also a lot of inquiries about proposed packages that would contain items such as a hot water bottle, a gas stove etc. costing around €85 to €100. "We were hoping to fund that through the Healthy Ireland plan. Maybe if we got 25 of them for the LAPWD. I don't know through what stream of funding we could go."

Mr Minton responded: "I'm not aware of any funding out there for the direct provision of domestic generators for any type of heating unit."

He continued that LEADER programme's community-based response could be utilised.