- A radio training exercise which was due to take place on Friday evening 23/07/99 was replaced by the real thing. As the members of the unit were going out the door to commence the exercise an accident involving a lorry and a car occurred, just a few meters from the base. Thankfully noone was injured, but as the accident occurred on a narrow part of a busy road (the N8 from Dublin to Cork going through Durrow town) there was the potential for a serious traffic snarl-up. Just enough room was left on the street for one car to pass at a time, which was causing a problem as there were two lengthening lines of traffic with a high proportion of lorries in them. A festival was also taking place in the town to make things a little bit busier. The crashed vehicles could not be moved until the Gardai (police) arrived, so unit members deployed on both sides of the accident, separating cars from lorries and allowing groups of 20 or so cars past alternately from either end of the town. The topography of the town meant that visual contact could not be established between the members directing traffic, so the radios played a vital role in the whole operation in preventing confusion. This continued for approximately 10 minutes until the vehicles were moved. Delays were in this manner kept to a minimum. Afterwards some suspicious minds among the unit speculated that it was all arranged at great expense to provide training, but this was denied.

- At the Durrow festival on Sunday, the planned display by the unit did not go ahead because of space constraints in the town centre, but Laois Civil Defence vehicles did take part in the parade, and members of the unt were present at the outdoor events on Sunday.

ends