From the early hours of Tuesday morning last, treacherous driving conditions and impassable roads were reported around the South Limerick areas.

Kilfinane was one of the worst affected areas, with four inches of snow reported and motorists were being advised on Tuesday morning to avoid it where possible.

Diarmuid McIntyre of Grey Heron Media lives and works on the main street in Kilfinane and he told The Avondhu that the overnight snowfall appeared to have been very localised.

He said that there was no snowfall on Monday night, but by early Tuesday morning, white scenes greeted those in the area and the roads were very dangerous and impassable in parts.

He added that the snowfall was localised, as they could see green fields in the distance and said that conditions like this haven't been seen in Kilfinane since the Big Freeze of 2009.

GALBALLY

Jim Fitzgerald in Galbally told The Avondhu that the village of Galbally, which has been very bad previously because of snow and ice seemed to escape, but the approach roads were dangerous.

"To the left of the village towards the Galtees was very bad in Anglesboro and Ballylanders," he said.

Cllr Eddie Ryan added that while a few cars had slid off the road around Galbally and Ballylanders, thankfully no injuries were reported.

He added that the road conditions were very risky and in future, in conditions such as happened on Tuesday, people should avoid travelling unless it's absolutely necessary.

Cllr Ryan added that the snowfall around Kilfinane was the worst reported in the entire county, but that the council had mobilised crews from 7am with gritters and a snow plough in operation and they had also borrowed a vehicle from the Newcastlewest office.

BALLYLANDERS

Road conditions coming in and out of Ballylanders were also reportedly very dangerous with a number of trucks stuck on the main approach roads.

Denny O'Dwyer who lives in the village and is a member of the Hillwalking Radio Group, told The Avondhu that the entire vilalge was blocked.

"I haven't seen anything like this in 30 years or more. Ballyfaskin Cross was blocked by trucks. They had no traction and just couldn't get grip on the road," he said.

IS THE COUNTY A PRIORITY FOR THE COUNCIL?

In light of both the incident in Anglesboro where a tree fell on a jeep and the council failed to respond and the smaller roads around the county not being treated, questions have been raised as to whether or not the county is losing out on services from the council.

Before the city and county councils in Limerick merged, there were fears that the county would be sidelined and that the city would benefit from many of the council's services, but until now, there appeared to have been an equality in the way services were delivered.

However, on Wednesday night of last week while Storm Rachel raged, there was just one incident in the entire county of Limerick when a tree fell on a jeep and the council failed to respond.

Then, almost a week later, snow and ice led to dangerous driving conditions around the county in South Limerick, yet many of the roads affected were not included in the council's winter service plan.

"The six councillors should certainly be making a case for having the peripheral areas made more of a priority. We shouldn't be neglected," Galbally man Jim Fitzgerald told The Avondhu.

Limerick City and County Council failed to respond to The Avondhu when asked about whether or not there was equality in the delivery of services to the city and county, since the merger.

According to the Limerick City and County Council Winter Maintenance Plan 2014-2015, in the event of severe weather, routes in Priority 1 areas will be treated during all weather events and 'are essential to be kept serviceable in all weather conditions, as far as reasonably practicable'; routes in Priority 2 areas are to be treated as part of a normal winter service but may have interruptions to treatment in certain severe weather events, and Priority 3 routes will not be treated as part of the normal winter service, but may receive intermittent treatment during certain severe weather events.

There are no roads within the South Limerick area of The Avondhu catchment in Priority 1 areas, there are just five in the Priority 2 section and none classed as Priority 3. Those which are classed as Priority 2 include the R512 from the Kilmallock Road Roundabout at Childers Road to Flemingstown in Kilfinane, the R662 and R663, which go across parts of Galbally, R513 which runs across the areas around Ballylanders, Galbally and Anglesboro, R517 through Kilfinane village. Priority 3 routes are along certain city bus routes and steep slopes in and around the city.

Throughout the morning on Tuesday, Limerick Council sent an update to The Avondhu. This stated that up until 10am, road crews were working to treat roads, but motorists were advised to avoid Ardpatrick and Kilfinane.

By 12.45pm, they reported that the R517 (Kilfinane-Mitchelstown), R512 (Kilmallock-Ardpatrick) and L1511 (Kilfinane-Ballylanders) were all clear, but motorists were advised to travel with caution, while they were working on the L1516 and this was to be avoided until clearing works had been completed.

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