Severe storm winds which caused structural damage across the country at the weekend, and blew a jet onto its tail at Dublin Airport, are set to continue for most of this week, according to Met Éireann.
High winds, gusting to 70 m.p.h. in some places, caused havoc around the country, felling trees and causing minor injuries.
A €30 million jet belonging to businessman Mr Dermot Desmond was damaged when it was blown onto its tail at Dublin Airport on Saturday. The 15-seater Falcon 900 jet was parked in an area used to store private jets when it became buffeted by winds of up to 65 m.p.h. The jet was empty at the time.
In nearby Santry, two adults and three children were injured when the roof was blown of a building at a sports complex.
The incident happened at the SportsLink centre on the old Airport Road just after 11 a.m. on Saturday. The roof of part of the sports centre came loose, and crashed into the glass ceiling of a swimming pool, causing minor injuries to five swimmers.
The two adults were brought to the Matter Hospital, and the children were taken to Temple Street Hospital. All were later released. A Garda spokesman said yesterday the facility was closed pending an investigation by the Health and Safety Authority and a structural engineer from Fingal County Council.
An English lorry driver had a narrow escape on Saturday morning when his truck overturned in high winds on a busy road near Ennis, Co Clare.
The man was driving along the northbound slip road off the Dromoland interchange when his vehicle was swept across the road by strong gusts, and was only prevented from crashing down a steep embankment by crash barriers.
An Irish Coast Guard helicopter battled 70 m.p.h. westerly winds to rescue a ship's captain who sustained serious injuries off the south-east coast.
The Sikorsky based at Waterford Airport was called out at 11 a.m. on Saturday to airlift the captain of the merchant ship, Iduna, which was anchored in the Waterford estuary. The rescue was hampered by gale conditions.
Galway Fire Brigade had to use breathing apparatus to fight a fire at an unoccupied house in Hazel Park in the Newcastle area of the city yesterday. It is believed the fire may have been started during an attempted break-in.
A caravan belonging to members of the Travelling community was destroyed in a blaze at Drumline, near Shannon, on Saturday morning. High winds were blamed for fuelling the fire.
Meanwhile, the ESB yesterday restored power to more than 300 homes in north Dublin, where lines had been cut by the storms.
Met Éireann forecaster Mr Gerry Scully said the winds would slacken slightly today, but would remain very high for most of the early part of the week.
He said high winds would persist today, and it would get colder. Showers would continue today and tomorrow, but were unlikely to be as frequent as at the weekend. "There will be hail showers and could even be sleet showers, with the possibility of snow on mountains."
He added that things should improve later in the week.