PROPOSALS to downgrade Shannon Fire Station are receiving a very negative local response, with several elected representatives saying they will oppose any move to cut the number of firefighters based there.
Clare TD Donna McGettigan (SF) said, “In 2014 a report recommended that there be 15 personnel in the fire station. Now it’s being recommended that go to 12. We’re asking how that can be justified now, with increased population, increased industry and an increased number of flights coming in and out of Shannon Airport.”
Ms McGettigan also said that one of the reasons being put forward was a difficulty in recruiting staff, but she said there are signs that recruitment has been going in the right direction.
“Another thing they’re saying is that they can’t get to 15. But at one stage it was down to three and it has come back to 11 in a short space of time. People are becoming interested in it,” she said.
The Sinn Féin TD said that the service is already stretched thin, and that would only be exacerbated by the move.
“You have a week on and a week off, so really you only have six on at any point in time,” she said.
“At the moment people who are off are getting calls to come in because there aren’t enough staff, and capping it at 12 isn’t going to work. That’ll mean that anyone who is on their week off will have to come in, because they’re not taking account of holidays or illness.”
Cathaoirleach of the Shannon Municipal District Pat O’Gorman (FF) said he is strongly opposed to any move to reduce the number of firefighters for Shannon.
“On last Saturday I had a meeting with the chief fire officer in Shannon in relation to what is being proposed, which is a decrease in the amount of workers there,” he said.
“Now it still has to come before Clare County Council, there’s nothing official yet, but I gave my word to the Chief Fire Officer that we wouldn’t be accepting that when it comes before Clare County Council. It’s likely to come before the Council in the third or fourth quarter of the year, I don’t think it has been tied down yet, but we’ll be looking for support from all our colleagues and our Oireachtas members as well.”
He said that Shannon serves a very large area and the firefighters attached to it do vital work.
“This fire station is serving a big catchment area, from the Limerick border down as far as Ennis, we have an international airport, a town with 10,000 people and there are thousands more coming to work in the Shannon Industrial Estate, where I’m working myself,” he said.
“Even today [Tuesday] we’ve had two major crashes, one where a car overturned outside on the motorway, and then there was another crash in Sixmilebridge.
“Usually what happens is that when the motorway closes the traffic goes onto the back roads, people aren’t used to the back roads and there can be more collisions.
“The fire brigade was called out to those. A person got a heart attack in Shannon the other day and members of our fire brigade responded to try and revive that man, unfortunately he passed away. The fire station and its workers are very important to the town of Shannon and the surrounding areas.”
He said that the local fire station is actually required to deal with incidents at the airport terminal.
“The fire station can service the airport, but the fire tenders in the airport can’t service the local community. They can only service the aeroplanes and the runway, they can’t even do the terminal building. If anything happens in that terminal building or around it, it ‘s for the fire station in Shannon to act,” he said.
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.