Portlick area of Athlone badly affected by storm with ‘over 40 trees’ felled

Portlick in Glasson was among the local areas worst impacted by Storm Éowyn, with widespread fallen trees resulting in the closure of the popular forest walkway and the nearby Portlick Scout Campsite.

This afternoon (Tuesday), the council confirmed that the the Portlick Woods Millennium Forest walkway remained closed to the public in the aftermath of the storm.

Paul Monaghan of Westmeath County Council said work to clear trees from the walkway was ongoing.

"For health and safety reasons, we would advise all members of the public to refrain from using the walkway until all fallen trees obstructing the walkway are removed," he said.

"I would hope works will be completed by the end of this week or early next week."

John Butler, the former Athlone councillor and secretary of the Portlick Scout Campsite committee, estimated that more than 40 trees had come down in the Portlick area. He said he never witnessed anything like the impact of the recent storm.

"I've never seen as much damage, and I'm over 25 years coming in and out of (Portlick)," he told the Westmeath Independent.

"I've never seen a storm take as many trees out all at once."

He said the scout campsite had been scheduled to host a group last weekend, but instead it was forced to close to carry out repairs after the storm.

"We have our electricity back at the site but we had a small bit of damage ourselves. We had roof (damage), damage to a door, and a gutter blown off. But it's minimal compared to what happened to other people."

Mr Butler said he was hopeful that everything would be "back to normal" at the scout campsite this week.

He complimented the Westmeath County Council staff for clearing a pathway on the road into Portlick the day after the storm, as fallen trees had initially closed off all road access.

"It was a massive job just to make an opening in the road. Great credit has to go to (the council staff) because they're out there in all sorts of weather, like all of the essential service workers, trying to do their best. They're working night and day trying to get things back for people."

Willie Ryan, district manager with the Athlone Moate Municipal District, said last week that the council's initial priority after the storm had been to get roads, and roads into estates, open. It then began looking at removing trees that were pushed to the side on the road network but that may have presented a hazard to vehicles.

In Portlick, he said works were being carried out to clear the pathways in the amenity, and that "work to remove fallen trees that are not blocking passage may be some way into the future."

Local councillor John Dolan also said he was aware of the extent of the damage and disruption caused in the Portlick area by the storm.

He said it was his view that, where possible, trees along roadsides should be cleared and replanted elsewhere.

"There's also another conversation to be had with Eir about telegraph poles which are not being maintained," Cllr Dolan added.