6pm latest: 
DONEGAL is being snubbed by the National Roads Authority which is looking after Dublin roads first with salt supplies, it has been claimed in the Seanad.
The claim was made by Inishowen Senator Cecelia Keaveney as a blanket of fresh snow continues to fall across parts of the county throughout the day.
Many roads including Meenaroy, the back road at Errigal and a number of other roads have already been closed by Donegal County Council and the Gardai.
Council spokesman Michael McGarvey said they are preparing themselves for forecasts of up to SIX inches of snow falling across Donegal today.
“The forecast was for sleet but this has turned to snow and it is heavy in many places with some forecasts now for as much as six inches of snow in some parts of the county.
“We are acting accordingly and will be out gritting the roads as best we can,” he said.
Although a new delivery of salt is to arrive in the county today, it is not understood to be enough to cope with the ongoing horrific underfoot conditions.
The coldest part of the country last night was along the N15 stretch of road between Lifford and Castlefin which plunged to a numbing minus 14 degrees.
Again scores of schools and businesses kept their doors locked this morning as black ice and further snow falls made conditions treacherous to travel in.
Speaking in the Seanad, Senator Cecelia Keaveney said she took her own life in her hands trying to get to Dublin.
She said she wanted to know why the people of Donegal appeared to have been snubbed while salt supplies were readily available across the east coast.
“The National Roads Authority has monopolised the use of salt. I want to outline that because the NRA has taken that centrality, Donegal County Council doesn’t have salt.
“It used to be always able to manage the salt reserves by getting in more from Carrickfergus but we can no longer do that.
“The mixture of sand and salt we now have to use in Donegal is totally incompetent within half an hour of the snow falling to deal with it.
“I had to get a lift to Derry and then get the train to Dublin. The entire North West is being ignored. There are roads closed today and are discommoding thousands of people.
“We need an urgent debate as to why we can’t cope with a small amount of snow and a small bit of ice,” she fumed.
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