Chaos And Fun As Snow Blankets Ireland

Ireland was transformed into a winter wonderland last week, as heavy snowfalls and freezing temperatures saw a blanket of white snow across most of the country.

Even this week, as the thaw continues, night time temperatures remained below zero, and there is a continuing problem with black ice, and slush on many roads and sidewalks.

The big freeze brought many parts of the country to a virtual standstill, with major transport disruption.

Businesses say it has cost them hundreds of millions of euro, but they hope to recover much of that over the coming weeks as things return to normal.

And while children could enjoy building snowmen as many schools were forced to close, there was also an increase in injuries and limb fractures due to falls, according to medical staff.

At least three elderly people are known to have died during the cold snap.

An 81-year-old man in Co. Cork died of suspected hypothermia after he fell in a field near his home. Donal O'Connell from Milford was reported missing on Monday last.

On Tuesday, his car was found stuck in a field off a small lane, and his body was discovered nearby. Gardai believe he was trying to turn the car in a field when it got snowbound.

It's feared that the freezing conditions also led to the death of two elderly men in Co. Mayo.

Tom Connolly, who was in his 70s, was discovered by a relative outside his front door in Claremorris at 10.30am on Thursday morning.

It's thought his body was in the open air from 9pm the previous night as temperatures plummeted below zero.

He had been dropped home by taxi after socialising in the town that evening.

And on Saturday evening, the body of an 85-year-old man was found in his farmyard at Castlehill, Ballina. It's believed he sustained head injuries in a fall.

But if there were deaths, there were also births and marriages.

A woman in Wexford gave birth to triplets one hour after being rescued from her snowbound house by medical teams on Wednesday morning.

Babies Aaron, Finn and Ryan were born three weeks earlier than expected.

Their mother Mandy Hayden-Freeman woke up with labour pains at 5am, to find seven inches of snow outside their rural home in the Wexford mountains.

Her husband, John, contacted emergency services, who tried unsuccessfully to organise a helicopter.

Meanwhile, two regular ambulances and two four-by-four ambulance jeeps set off towards the isolated spot.

Eventually, one and a half hours later (for what was normally at 20-minute drive), one of the ambulances arrived, with two midwives on board.

The expectant mother was brought into Wexford hospital at 8.15am, and within an hour three boys were born.

"It was fairly hairy at one stage. I thought I was going to have them in the house," she said.

On Thursday, Waterford couple Ollie Finnegan and Marie Tierney gave a whole new meaning to the term "white wedding".

Their long-planned civil ceremony and reception at Faithlegg House Hotel was almost scuppered by the weather.

But with the help of a car, a four wheel drive and a six-wheel golf buggy, the bride made it to the hotel on time.

At least 100 guests enjoyed the winter wedding, and as a bonus, the hotels owners, FBD, gave the newlyweds a holiday in their Spanish hotel.

"It may be cold here but at least they'll get a bit of sun when they travel to Spain," said the hotel's marketing manager Deirdre Houlihan.

Meanwhile, the Big Freeze has been having a devastating effect on business, at a crucial time for retailers already reeling from the economic crisis.

A survey by employers body IBEC said the adverse weather conditions cost companies €170m per week in absenteeism, €130m per week in lost retail sales, €200m per week in losses for other service industries, and €130m in lost manufacturing production.

The weather led to huge disruption and the cancellation of many planned events.

St Stephen's Green and Trinity College in the heart of Dublin were closed to the public for several days for health and safety reasons.

All weekend GAA fixtures, including the Munster club football final, were cancelled due to the ongoing freeze.

Magners League rugby clashes involving Connaught and Ulster were postponed.

Horse racing at Punchestown, Navan, and Clonmel were called off, along with a range of greyhound meets and motor-sporting events.

The bad weather led to major travel disruption with limited Bus Eireann and Dublin Bus services.

The DART and Luas light rail systems in Dublin were operational, but did face sporadic disruption due to frozen ice on the tracks.

Road networks were treacherous around the country particularly on secondary roads - local authorities were doing their best to keep all national routes gritted.

By the end of the week, councils were being advised to mix salt with sand to conserve grit supplies.

Dozens of flights into and out of Dublin Airport were cancelled or delayed in the middle of the week, as the runways were shut down due to heavy snow cover and dangerous conditions.

Eircom reported faults to its national network leaving problems with telephone and broadband services in some areas.

There were cuts to water supplies in several areas, including Wicklow and Galway. Electricity supplies in some areas were also interrupted.

Recipients of social welfare payments were told they could collect them in the coming weeks if they were unable to make it to a post office due to weather conditions, and jobseekers were told they would be excused from signing-on if the weather continued to make travel difficult.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen paid tribute to all those who were working to improve conditions for people during the hazardous weather.

"It is at times like this that the true sense of public service shines through," he said, "I believe it is important that these efforts are acknowledged.