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PLANNING EXPERTS, ARCHITECTS and politicians have expressed concerns about the fire safety compliance of many of Ireland’s buildings, following on from the devastating fire at a London tower block earlier in the week.
UK prime minister Theresa May has ordered a full inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire on Wednesday, in which at least 17 people were killed. Police have said they expect the death toll to rise.
Speculation has been mounting over how the fire spread through the building so quickly.
The focus of criticism centres on the cladding fitted to external walls on the 1970s concrete block as part of a €9.9 million refit completed last year.
According to the BBC, the cladding had a plastic core and was similar to that used by high-rise buildings in France, the United Arab Emirates and Australia, which had also suffered fires that spread.
Following on from the fire, concerns have been raised about a number of issues around Ireland’s fire safety regulations.
Dublin Social Democrats councillor Cian O’Callaghan said the blaze must serve as a “wake up call” for Irish fire safety authorities.
He called on incoming Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy to introduce a number of measures around addressing fire safety issues here.
O’Callaghan pointed to a number of housing estates built during the economic boom that fail to meet fire safety standards.
A famous example of this is Priory Hall in Dublin, which was evacuated in 2011 over serious fire safety concerns. More recent examples include Longboat Quay and Beacon South Quarter in Dublin, which also had fire-safety issues.
O’Callaghan said that a large number of estates that were built during boom-time years did not meet proper fire safety standards, and that the problem needed to be addressed.
O’Callaghan’s concerns are echoed by architect and housing expert Mel Reynolds, who said there are at least 30 building developments built during the Celtic Tiger years that have structural or fire safety issues.
Reynolds said that in many cases, tenants or owners living in these developments don’t raise the issue publicly as they are worried about the value of their homes plummeting as a result.
With a number of Celtic Tiger developments, the residents have had to foot the bill themselves to bring their homes up to fire safety code.
“You actually have more consumer protection if you buy a phone than a home,” said Reynolds.
Reynolds also called for more building control inspectors in the country, in order to ensure that developments are up to standard.
This is a view shared by former Minister of State for Planning and Green Party councillor Ciarán Cuffe, who said that Ireland needed an independent building inspection system to ensure fire safety standards were adhered to.
“I think its good to have an independent inspection system and perhaps that is something that Minister Murphy should be looking at in Ireland as part of a review of this tragic incident,” he said.
Millfield Manor
Both O’Callaghan and Reynolds also raised concerns about the delay in publishing a report into the 2015 fire at Millfield Manor estate in Kildare.
On 31 March, 2015 fire spread rapidly destroying a terrace of six houses in half an hour in the estate. Industry standards dictate that it should take at least half an hour for a fire to spread from one building to another.
This meant that the fire should have taken three hours to spread in the manner that it did.
Following the blaze, then-Environment Minister Alan Kelly announced a review to “develop a framework for general application” in residences where fire safety was a concern.
The review was completed 15 months ago, but the report has yet to be published.
O’Callaghan called on the Government to publish the report as a matter of urgency.
In relation to the report, a Housing Department spokesperson said:
The report on Milford Manor remains under examination and the Department is seeking clarification on a number of issues.
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Shane Ross is not interested in fighting. If he was he would be fighting to regulate the car insurance industry and be telling us where the income from 245,000 vehicles a day, most of them commercial that cross just one of eleven toll bridges is going.
@Tom Fennelly: The only thing they fight over is how much of a pay rise they are entitled too
@Tom Fennelly: he specifically told me that’s not his remit.
Mcgregor is an inspiration to the country. The most famous Irish man bar none. I’ll tell you what’s disturbing, hunting, horse racing, grey hound racing, bull fighting… They don’t have a choice. Mma two consenting adults throw down and suffer minimal injuries. What’s disturbing about that?
@Eoin de Barra: we don’t go much for bull fighting in Ireland Eoin…..bull$hit yes, but not bull fighting. As for “consenting adults” I think you’re on the wrong thread with that one :-)
@Eoin de Barra: He’s not an inspiration to me, or most of the people I know. I’ve never seen any of these fights, only see McGregor in news clips promoting himself and his brand, I chose not to buy into it as I am not a sheep.
@Sloop John G: good man sloop. I live in Spain. Bullfighting exists here. You’ll have to look up the meaning of consenting kid.
@Nick Drake: well done fella.
@Eoin de Barra: Yeah, minimal damage, tell that to Joao Carvalho’s family.
@Weldoninhio: people have died running half marathons. It was a freak incident.
@Eoin de Barra: People died from blunt force trauma running half marathons?? Tough 13 miles
@Weldoninhio: that was tragic for sure. But it was a freak accident. It’s not the norm for sure. Hunters shoot to kill. I think that’s a problem.
@Eoin de Barra: Hunters kill dumb animals, not humans. Should we start arresting lions for the murder of gazelles??
@Weldoninhio: more people have died from playing rugby and its blunt force trauma. Mr Ross is happy to go to those games
Most intelligent people won’t watch this farce.
@P C: you have met the McGregor fans haven’t you? They’ll definitely be watching it.
@JJ O Riordan: yeah the “McGregor Fans” are easily identified, they are the ones that dont have their heads up their backsides
@Jonny Chip: and their knuckles scrape off the ground as they walk.
@Jonny Chip: Exactly, they have their heads up McTapper’s backside.
@P C: you’ll be glued to It so
I would give Ross a small amount of respect for his views, however it’s to late to worry about McGregor, behaviour like wearing a polar bear fur coat and trying to Dance on the bonnet of someone else’s car indicates catastrophic and irreversible brain damage.
@Dave Hogan: haha brilliant.. comment of the day
@Dave Hogan: comment of the year
Mr Ross, it’s not a MMA fight its Boxing ,
@ger power1: it’s a freak show
@ger power1: It’s not boxing either. In boxing, both people need to be able to box.
Shiny new teeth and a ticket to every major sporting event in the land. It’s amazing what a Ministry will do for a man.
Pity those new teeth didn’t come with a bit of bite.
And in other news: Leo Varadkar cuts his front lawn and paschal donohue blows his nose. Wow!
@theupsidedown: Leo lives in an apartment and Pascal has no nose.
@John O’Shea: comment of the day lolol
@John O’Shea: who said anything about grass?
Ross cares about nooooo one only himself ! As much as I’m not a fan of Mc Gregor he’s twice the man Ross is and that saying something .
Good for him not pretending he likes mcgregor or MMA just because an Irish chap has done well in it. This fight is nothing to get too brotheled about
Ha ha who really cares what Shane Ross thinks about McGregor vs. Mayweather?
He’s job is to propagate sports, but with a lean towards highly lucrative ones that can bring tax revenues. Boxing and MMA typically won’t bring massive revenues in Ireland. Larger field based team sports do so his is what he will focus on for the most part.
If that changed then he’d be all over boxing , mma etc.
Deffo not going to watch now that my hero Shane Ross wont..
UPDATE: Mayweather VS McGregor cancelled after Irish minister for Sport declares he won’t watch it.
Is there a prize for worst headline ever?
the phantom: that’s a great new word “brotheled “I am stealing it of you
@Brian O Reilly: Me too.
Shane Ross… an utterly usrless and incompetent politician and aside from that comes across as an eccentric nerd who is a bit of a chancer. But as an Irish politician he isn’t in the minority unfortunately.
Shane Ross is an out of touch failed plonker ! You cannot push back a flooding tide. Cmac is huge and MMA is huge and we should be very proud that he represents our country with such passion and pride. Sure, there are elements in MMA which may appear to be unsavoury but that goes for nearly all contact sports. Ice hockey, USA football, rugby( union and league), boxing etc. His wishy washy ” I’ll be watching all the ladies rugby” etc is patronising and nauseating. Go back and do what you do best. Holding hands with Eamonn Dunphy !!!
I am to my shame going to watch it ,but at a local venue with all the other Romans
Never going to be fun watching fun watching someone (McGregor) get battered
Does anyone honestly give a fck whether Ross watches this fight or not?
Hickey knocked him out in Rio. Useless spineless worm. That said he knows farce and shit when he sees it.
@Eoin de Barra: Shane Ross should definitely do something about bull fighting in Ireland.
Who actually gives a f### what he thinks
Sean your on your own there .
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