Civil Defence Crash Plan, Revised, 1962
Document marked ‘Restricted’ outlining the Civil Defence Crash plan in the event of an outbreak of war ‘between the Eastern and Western groups of powers with little or no warning. In the event of such a war nuclear weapons may be used. This country may receive nuclear strikes. The most likely hazard is nuclear fall-out over our territory’.
The document details the various organisations involved and their responsibilities, stating for instance that the County Manager ‘will be County Controller of Civil Defence. He will organise Welfare, Fire, Rescue and Casualty Services from the resources at his disposal, including the Civil Defence organisation’. It also includes details on Gardaí strength at various monitoring posts; schedule of equipment; ‘Secret Communications’ details how national communications will operate and procedures for using alternative methods of communication; and ‘Notes for Radio talk by An tAire Cosanta’, advising the measures the public should take to protect themselves in the event of ‘war affecting this country’, advising for instance to
‘(a) Select your refuge room on the ground floor, or better still in the basement if you have one and one in which you can get as far as possible from an outside wall….
(b) Add extra protection at the doors and windows of the refuge room. Heavy materials are what you require. If you have no concrete blocks or sandbags available you can improvise by filling boxes, sacks, flour bags, etc with earth or sand. Make this barricade about 1 ½ times the thickness of the wall and completely block up the windows and shield the doors. The most important point to remember is that shielding by any material such as clay, concrete or steel will give considerable protection against radioactive fall-out…’
Other measures advised there to keep ‘your wireless in the refuge room’; ‘Lay in a week’s supply of food now’; and ‘Store about 2 or 3 gallons of drinking liquids per person’.
Further specific advice is included for farmers and the measure they should take to protect livestock.