Pictured at the at the 2025 Business Post Public Sector Digital Transformation Awards, held at the Mansion House in Dublin (left to right) Edward O’Shea (Station Officer, An Cheathrú Rua Fire Brigade), Niamh Foley, Head of Enterprise Sales, Virgin Media; Mackenzie Boland (GCC IS Team and Project Lead), Michelle Hennelly (Senior Assistant Chief Fire Officer).
SEVERE weather technology utilised in Galway during Storm Eowyn has received a national award.
Galway County Council and Galway Fire and Rescue Service have been recognised for leadership in emergency technology after their Severe Weather Event Management System (SWEMS) proved instrumental during Storm Eowyn and was recently showcased by Government as part of its storm review.
At the 2025 Business Post Public Sector Digital Transformation Awards, held at the Mansion House in Dublin, the local authority received the Best Local Government Authority Project Award.
Developed in-house by Galway County Council and built on the ESRI ArcGIS platform, SWEMS provides emergency teams with a live, interactive map of severe weather events, enabling faster and more informed decision-making. The system also connects to public-facing platforms, including social media and a text alert service, giving residents real-time updates as conditions change.
“Up to now there has been a lag getting information, and we found we were behind the curve straight away,” said Paul Duffy, Senior Assistant Chief Fire Officer. “This system means all our information is there in front of us. From an organisational point of view, hours could be saved during severe weather and wildfire events”.
He continued, “The award recognises exceptional innovation in digital public service delivery, particularly in the face of increasingly frequent and severe weather events. With national rollout now underway, the SWEMS team is proud that our technology is set to redefine how Ireland prepares for and responds to climate-driven emergencies”.
Michelle Hennelly, Senior Assistant Chief Fire Officer, confirmed that the system was recently demonstrated to the Department of Climate, Energy and Environment (DCEE) as part of its storm review. She also highlighted a multi-county exercise led by Galway at the National Emergency Coordination Centre (NECC), involving eight local authorities and coordinated by the Office of Emergency Planning (OEP) under the Department of Defence. “The exercise showed that SWEMS could be scaled across counties and departments with minimal cost,” she added.
Project Lead Mackenzie Boland, from the council’s Geographical Information Systems (GIS) team, said SWEMS now underpins severe weather response for both Galway County and City Councils, supporting assessment teams and frontline crews alike.
Hennelly extended thanks to Michael Martin, Head of Information Systems at Galway County Council, and Barry Doyle, former GIS Lead, for their support throughout the project.
