14 Comments
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Simon Meehan's avatar

SO glad this was written about! 😆

Midlander Paul's avatar

Prepping was considered a far right talking point not long ago

Emma Grace's avatar

Very good! You will, no doubt, be reassured to know that I received my info booklet yesterday. I have not yet decided whether to consign it to the general rubbish or 'do the right thing' and toss it in the recycling bin. I will consider the options carefully over the next few days and as my bin day next Wednesday, I will use that as a deadline for my decision.

I wasn't aware that the Minister responsible for this latest BS is McEntee. As she would probably struggle to grasp the enormity of even the most benign 'emergency', maybe I should send the booklet back to her? I suppose we should be grateful that she didn't do an 'O'Gorman' on it and have it printed in 8 different languages!

Jesus wept! What has this country become!

James Gough's avatar

unlike you Emma I have not as yet received this mistake timely and useful document. I presume that this brilliant plan was conceived in Brussels as part of the preparation for war with Russia. Those gombeens in Leinster house were told to prepare for war and this document is the product of the very best minds in government and the civil service. Likewise the sudden discovery by the government that we have an Army reserve and that it needs volunteers. We must be war ready.

My plan upon receipt of this booklet is to freepost it back to Miss McEntee along with a polite letter suggesting that she make a paper cone from the document. Insert the pointy end up her rectum. Set fire to the other end and dance naked on the plinth at Leinster house while humming Beethovens ode to joy. We would at least then get some entertainment value out of this document as it is useless for anything else.

Miss McEntee should have a competent civil servant on stand by with a fire extinguisher in advance of the performance as allowing the performance to last too long will stop the minister from sitting in the Dail for some time.

Ben Meehan's avatar

This is the same day the Irish Government has published the Report of the CHI Inquiry Scoping Exercise conducted by Remy Farrell SC into spina bifida and complex scoliosis services at Children's Health Ireland (CHI). The sheer incompetence and lack of funding that caused such misery for sick children stands in sharp contrast to the waste of resources that went into producing this tripe. What's the bet Helen McEntee get reelected. What does it take for our population to stop tolerating this farce of a Government?

James Gough's avatar

Remember Ben Government is about choices. Resources must be allocated to where they can do the most good. Sick children are very low on the priority list. But the chance of some favourable publicity for our saintly politicians, well that's a whole different level of priority.

Gordon Kingston's avatar

My fave on the list of risks (you have to go online to read it) is "mass inward population displacement". Although I thought that was good for us though, no? Or is "mass" too many? I'll have to get my beans and tuna ready.

Andrew's avatar

That bloody McEntee. Has there been a single more inept minister this century?

Let me add a fifth reason. The booklet can be flipped over and read in Irish. As if it weren’t pointless enough already...

Henry Gaynor's avatar

Oh my God .. we're all gonna die. What I like is the assumption that phone and radio networks will stay working in a serious emergency. What will we do if they're knocked out?

James Gough's avatar

There is a small broadcasting station in Athlone Barracks that is part of the governments nuclear survival bunker. Of course if the Athlone transmitter is hit then I guess that the government will be broadcasting to themselves.

JudeW's avatar

We haven’t received anything like this in The North! Maybe, The North will be spared the Apocalypse because they know the rioters and balaclavas would win in any Straighteners with the zombies. But thanks for sharing. I’m ahead of the game now and I appreciate the North South cooperation!

John F O'Sullivan's avatar

Given McEntee's advice re: the importance of identity documentation, and her recent roles in both the Justice and Foreign Affairs departments, what's her advice, in the event of an emergency, to all the undocumented aliens currently residing in this country?

Tom Fox's avatar

LoL- particularly the last line

She must be the worst Minister in any Irish Government ever

And still keeps failing upwards

Our next Taoiseach no doubt…

Helene's avatar

Thanks. I don’t think the booklet’s intention is entirely lost, but the content is poor, verging on stupid. In a way, the message it gets across most clearly is: “When SHTF, you’re on your own. Good luck.”

After Storm Éowyn, I was amazed by how many people around us had no alternative way to heat their homes or cook, or even any water stored. Our neck of the woods was without electricity or water for more than a week, without mobile or landline service for about four days, and with roads impassable for at least a couple of days. We were among the better prepared and were able to help our neighbours, but we still found things we’d improve before the next storm. So I’m all for reasonable preparedness.

On the other hand, the bit about “important documents” is slightly laughable. The phone numbers? Same problem, as Éowyn showed. The radio? When we were cut off from the world, we turned to a battery radio and the car radio hoping to find out what was happening nearby and when services might be restored. Instead, national radio seemed to be sitting comfortably in Dublin, tallying up the damage and repeating official messages, with precious little practical information for those of us out in the sticks, without power, water or phones. Being told to check a website for updates was particularly helpful. Even most local stations seemed unable to find out much about our area for the first three days. We now have a Starlink kit in storage.

And don’t get me started on the consequences of building new homes without chimneys, or retrofitting existing homes in ways that remove their only non-electric source of heat. I know people who had to move out for a week because the power cut took their heating with it and they could no longer light a fire. These choices don’t happen in a vacuum: building standards and publicly funded retrofit programmes shape what gets built and what gets removed. After Éowyn, they’ll have to take my stove over my dead body. At least the booklet might be useful for lighting it.