Ten cattle have been killed on a farm in Co Cavan following lightning which struck parts of the region yesterday evening.
It’s understood that incident occurred yesterday evening in the region of Butlersbridge.
While lightning storms are not uncommon at this time of year, livestock losses are rare as a result of lightning but not unheard of across the country.
The Northern Sound region had been under a thunderstorm warning that had been issued by Met Eireann but the warning had expired at 6pm yesterday evening.
The lightning struck the earth at around 8pm, which resulted in the death of the cattle who had decided to take shelter around a large tree on the land.
Cavan TD Brendan Smith has expressed his condolences to the farmer following the tragedy, “It just shows how dangerous storms can be and the impact of changing weather patterns.
”But I want to say to the farmer, I appreciate the huge loss it is to the farmer.” The local TD said this is a huge blow for the farmer involved, “It's a huge shock to hit any farm and we all know the farmers go out in the tend to their cattle and to their livestock and to their land in such a dedicated and diligent manner, working hard, etc.”
“It a huge loss to any individual, that I'm very sorry to hear of this particular major loss on a farm in so many ways.”
Cavan IFA Maurice Brady says more supports need to be made available, “unfortunately, I don't think there's any insurance for lightning strikes, as far as I know and luckily, it doesn't happen too often, at this certainly this scale anyway.
“For an individual farm like this, it is a very big loss that's involved here. “So we'll have to look and see, is there any kind of funding available, or what's available to this local farmer in way of supports.
“I’ll be doing that over the next few days to see what can be done.”
Co Cavan Senator Sarah O'Reilly said, “your thoughts and sympathies would be with the farmer today.
“It was a freak act of nature, but the shock and distress of that must be very, very hard on the farmer.”
The local senator said, “farmers spend his or her life looking after the needs of their livestock and to come across the scene like this must have been very traumatic.
“I do hope that the farmer can get some compensation or some help but I know the IFA and others are working with the family.”
