Risk & Crisis Management SIG & the EMII Host a Review of the Storm Éowyn Response at DCU Business School

28^th November 2025:

Risk & Crisis Management Special Interest Group, in collaboration with The Emergency Management Institute of Ireland (EMII), hosted a breakfast briefing at DCU Business School this morning, bringing together professionals from across Ireland’s emergency-management, public-safety, academic, and critical-infrastructure sectors.

The event, “A Review of the Response to Storm Éowyn,” offered one of the first public insights into the lessons identified during Ireland’s most severe weather event in decades. The session drew an exceptional turnout from members eager to understand how national, regional, and local systems coordinated during this record-breaking storm event.

Distinguished Speakers

EMII & SIG members were honoured to welcome Paul Rock and Derek Whelan, both of whom hold leadership roles in the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management (NDFEM). Attendees also heard from Ronan Daly, Assistant Principal Officer at the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC).

Key Insights from the Review

The speakers presented an overview of Storm Éowyn’s impact:

Record-breaking wind speeds at 4 weather stations across the country.

A nationwide mobilisation, with the National Emergency Coordination Group (NECG) convening daily for two consecutive weeks.

The activation of interagency coordination structures, including regional and local crisis management teams.

Reliance on EU assistance, including generator deployment through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism.

The emergence of Community Support Centres—a new model of community resilience providing essential services such as power, heating, water, hot meals, and connectivity.

Significant challenges around societal resilience, communication-system dependency, and prolonged power outages affecting more than 768,000 homes and businesses.

The review also highlighted the need for enhanced infrastructure resilience, more robust severe-weather planning, improved information-sharing, greater clarity on vulnerable-persons supports, and strengthened public-communication strategies.

Looking Ahead

The session underscored the importance of continued collaboration between government agencies, utilities, local authorities, emergency services, and communities. With Storm Éowyn generating more than 80,000 household insurance claims and exposing gaps across multiple systems, the recommendations outlined in the review will play a critical role in shaping Ireland’s future preparedness.