Martin McAleer has 11 previous convictions and was on bail when he committed this offending. Photo: Collins

The rail operator dealt with hundreds of incidents of deliberate damage in 2024 with train windows smashed in and lights broken.

Mary Meehan from Dunmore in Galway said the last few weeks had been very difficult.

The Taoiseach visited the village on Monday to get a sense of ‘the explosive force of a whirlwind’ that hit on Sunday.