Mayo escaped the worst of Storm Emma last weekend, but Mayo County Council was on high alert and out on the ground to deal with the extreme weather that had been forecast.
At their monthly meeting on Monday afternoon councillors praised the work of council staff on the ground last weekend in keeping main roads cleared and the county moving.
Mayo County Council chief executive Peter Hynes also praised the efforts by the council staff. "We were very fortunate to escape the worst of Storm Emma, but it could have been very different," he said. "We could have woken up on Friday morning in the same situation as Wicklow and Wexford are struggling through.
"We could not take the situation lightly. I would like to thank all of the agencies and the bodies that were involved to get the county as prepared as it could be, the Gardai, the HSE, and Civil Defence, in particular went about their duties through thick and thin.
"We had an emergency team meeting right through the weekend and we got the word out to the public as quickly as possible as to what we were doing.
"Our outdoor crews were out on the ground all weekend. I would particularly like to thank our gritting crew, because the drivers on the road who know the road is not gritted ahead of them are those drivers. We didn't miss a single run over the three or four days."
Hynes also told the meeting that council staff worked to ensure that weddings and funerals were able to take place even in the worst of the conditions: "They responded on the ground to weddings and funerals, and I know in Erris and in Achill there were occasions where people were facilitated in getting to and from the church."
