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THE ARCHITECT BEHIND the Longboat Quay complex requiring over €4 million of fire safety works has insisted that it was constructed in accordance with building regulations.
Residents of the apartment block on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay in Dublin were told last week to cover the costs or face eviction.
But Eugen Van Jaarsveld, who is now working in Ghana, told RTÉ’s Liveline programme today that the complex passed a safety inspection after it was built and that he faced no pressure to cut corners during its construction.
Van Jaarsveld contested a Dublin Fire Brigade report that deemed fire separation between apartments to be inadequate, saying there was a “200mm concrete wall” between all units in the block.
Addressing other claims included in the report, which was based on an inspection by a senior fire officer, he added that the building’s fire doors and smoke ventilation system met safety standards when he signed off on the project nine years ago.
Van Jaarsveld, who was an employee of developer Bernard McNamara’s construction company Gendsong when he designed the complex, said that he still regards it to be “a very good building”.
However, on the same show, consultant engineer CJ Walsh, who visited Longboat Quay with RTÉ reporter Brian Lally last week, said there was no doubt that it has major fire safety deficiencies.
Walsh told Joe Duffy that the building had been fitted with a fire detection and warning system designed to “suit a suburban semi-detached house, not an apartment in a complex in the centre of Dublin”.
Most of the doors in each apartment looked fire-resistant but had no fire or smoke seals, he said, adding that he was “particularly concerned” about there being no door between the units’ kitchen and living areas.
Walsh was speaking after a group of Longboat Quay residents threatened legal action against the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA), which they say should take greater responsibility for covering the costs of required works.
Last week, the DDDA together with the building’s receiver confirmed a “formal final offer” of €2.75 million towards the repairs, which will cost €4.75 million.
However, some residents have argued that this offer includes nearly €1.25 million already spent on the installation of fire alarms, meaning they will still have to cover the majority of costs.
‘No information’
Meanwhile, earlier today, McNamara denied having any information about the now-defunct companies he ran during the Celtic Tiger.
“Any company in which I had an involvement during the relevant period has ceased trading, been sold or been dissolved so I am not in a position to provide the information sought in any detail,” he said in a written statement to the banking inquiry.
Last week, Nama CEO Brendan McDonough told the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee that the state agency had already spent “millions of euro” fixing other properties built by McNamara.
Meanwhile Moscow Mick, Kremlin Clare and Rostov Richard are criticizing putting pressure on Russia to stop this war. Embarrassments the lot of them. Every single Ukrainian could be killed and they’d still be crying ranting like lunatics because some Russian lad can no longer buy Big Macs.
@Seán Ó Briain: they’re a disgrace to this country. J cringe when I think of them representing Ireland in Brussels. What are people thinking when they vote for their likes ? Baffles me
@Declan Moran: big disgrace. I was mortified when I found out two out of 13 were Irish…I used to think that all those trolls who are flooding social media are actually russian trolls hiding behind Irish names but I started having doubts now.. Sad….:(
@Declan Moran: any politician that stands by Russia in the west should automatically lose their seat.
It’s your either with us, or your against us.
Clare daily and mick Kremlin Wallace should be removed as MEP.
They disgrace every single one of us.
They represent Ireland at the EU level,
What must the other EU member states think of us, when we have these baboons in power?
Did the PBP numpties applaud this time?
@Bri Lyons: nope. Shower of wasters
Everyone option is important. Some might suggest our 1916 leaders should have followed a neutrality policy and wait for home rule to materialise. Same people might assume that neutrality is in our constitution. Then after reading it want a referendum to validate their point without any embarrassment.
Feb 24th 2022 was a day that changed europe. From Sweden and Finland to Germany and France. Every European state awoken to war in Europe. For the most outrageous reasons possible. A European state was invaded illegally by Russia who denied it was possible less than 24hrs earlier. As commenters on RT media joked which country President Zelenskyy had fled with suitcases of cash like other americians puppet leaders. Russian leaders joked about sanctions being unless as a war chest of 600 billion was at their disposal. British intelligence believed that the Ukraine’s had about 72 hours before a Russian victory.
Now after 42 days of war, untold suffering and evidence of civilian torture, Ukraine is still fighting. Sanction are hurting Putin and this oligarchs. People who have little regard of ordinary Russian. Imprisoning Russians who speak out and criminalizing media outlets for doing their jobs.
Yet People Before Profit members have a right to their option. All war mongers are wrong. It’s is a blinkered option that is unhelpful to Ukraine’s fighting to stop genocide within their borders.
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