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Task force rule out any such Grenfell Tower fire incident occurring in Ireland

Minister Eoghan Murphy set up a group to assess Ireland’s fire safety measures following the Grenfell blaze in London last year.

A TASK FORCE which was set up assess fire safety in Ireland following the Grenfell Tower blaze in London has found such an event could not happen here.

Today, Cabinet ministers were briefed on the group’s report, Fire Safety in Ireland, which states “the circumstances of Grenfell do not appear to be present in Ireland”.

The task force, which was coordinated by the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management, was set up by Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy last June in which 71 people died.

The report looked at fire safety in social housing and in medium to high-rise buildings.

While the work of the task force is still ongoing, their initial findings rule out any such incident occurring in Ireland.

When announcing the setting up of the group, Murphy said:

“We must learn the lessons and take appropriate and balanced action to minimise the possibility of a large-scale fire occurring in Ireland.”

In June 2017, the minister also published a guide on undertaking fire safety assessments and a renewed focus on the preparedness of local authorities for a large-scale emergency.

Murphy also met with local authority chief fire officers to review their current plans for fire safety initiatives.

The task force’s membership was drawn from a cross-section of specialists. In addition to planners, regulators, architects and social housing experts, there were also representatives from private sector consultancies, chief fire officers, a staff association and both local and national government.

The task force met on 12 occasions between July 2017 and April 2018.

With reporting by Hayley Halpin. 

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    Mute An bhearna
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    Jun 6th 2018, 8:49 PM

    A “Task force” made up of ministerial advisers lackies. The only experienced operational fire officer on the “task force” refused to sign the report.

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    Mute Before its too late
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    Jun 6th 2018, 9:29 PM

    @An bhearna: As long as we build tall buildings with no sprinkler system’s , we are open to a similar tragedy like grenfel tower .

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    Mute John Cummins
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    Jun 6th 2018, 8:44 PM

    As they don’t let anybody build over 4 stories it would be pretty difficult for it to happen.

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    Mute sean conway
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    Jun 6th 2018, 9:38 PM

    @John Cummins: Are you saying there are no buildings over 4 stories high in Ireland currently or being built or in planning?

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    Mute Andy Bennett
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    Jun 6th 2018, 9:47 PM

    @sean conway: OBVIOUSLY he’s not.. Just a slight tone of sarcasm I’m guessing..

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    Mute David Carino
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    Jun 6th 2018, 11:31 PM

    @John Cummins: there’s no history of an event until it happens

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    Jun 6th 2018, 9:38 PM

    It would be interesting if the journal investigated this government propaganda story .
    50 years ago newspapers and RTE were telling us the women in Magdalene laundries were all smiles .
    Do your jobs , don’t just copy and paste government propaganda and cover ups .

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    Jun 6th 2018, 9:25 PM

    I have to be honest , I don’t believe them .
    We had a fire in a 9 storey building that started at the top and burned downwards , if it had started on the 7th and went up , the outcome would have been different .

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    Jun 6th 2018, 9:33 PM

    @Before its too late: In this day and age with all manner of fire prevention , how can a fire burn downwards .
    Even from the pictures taken outside grenfel we can see the fire only went upwards .

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    Mute jonny stone
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    Jun 6th 2018, 10:12 PM

    @Before its too late: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor_Tower_(Madrid)
    Started on the 21st floor, entire building gutted and subsequently demolished

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    Jun 6th 2018, 10:35 PM

    @jonny stone: Fair play to you , however , that building was built in 1979 and was undergoing renovation , they were installing sprinklers , but they weren’t active .
    The metro was built in 2006 , and as far as I’m aware , the same standard of fire protection regulations exists today .

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    Jun 6th 2018, 10:37 PM

    @Before its too late: Also , any building undergoing renovation is highly susceptible to fire , especially where the renovations involve every floor .

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    Mute jonny stone
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    Jun 6th 2018, 11:48 PM

    @Before its too late: your question was how can a fire burn downwards, the Windsor Tower shows that it is possible. Yes it was being refurbished and without sprinklers or appropriate compartmentation but the reason the fire spread downwards was due to the cladding and the production of flaming droplets.

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    Jun 7th 2018, 12:45 AM

    @jonny stone: Was the downwards spread of the fire at the metro due to cladding . I haven’t seen any images that would back that up .
    I would put my Money on electrics and plumbing services not being properly fire protected between floors .
    The fire was in March , it was estimated it would take a month to come to a conclusion , it’s 3 months later .
    https://www.rte.ie/news/dublin/2018/0322/949216-fire-metro-hotel/

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    Jun 7th 2018, 12:53 AM

    @jonny stone: Once again I’ll say , the Windsor Tower was built in 1979 .
    It’s a Spanish building built to their regulations , have they had an audit report to say it would never happen again ? I don’t know the answer to that.
    But I firmly believe , after having lived overseas for many years , and being back home for a couple of years ,Irish buildings are not subjected to enough inspections during construction .

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    Mute flabar oflabar
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    Jun 6th 2018, 8:59 PM

    Just like the rest of the Irish Fire Service, to many Chiefs and not enough Indians. Pie in the sky by unqualified yes men like all other inquiries on this island. NDFEM credibility is non existent, where are all the reports into there being way way to many Fire Chiefs and Assisntant Chief Fire officers in Ireland?????

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    Mute Kerrie Roche
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    Jun 7th 2018, 1:39 AM

    We had misfortune of having a fire in our apartment over 10 years ok.. we on 2nd floor, firstly sprinkler did not work, when fire brigade came , The fire had effected electric gates so could not enter for ages, than , could not locate water hydrant yoke for water, also having difficulty getting hose up, even though only on 2nd floor apartment block up on stilts as on river , so ended up throwing hose up to balcony to enter apartment,which at that stage was gutted, scarry how quick spread windows blown out and melted, no body harmed, just lost everything as renting and no contents, landlord was soo understanding and let us move back once flat rebuild…but could have been lot worse

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    Mute David Huston
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    Jun 6th 2018, 8:56 PM

    HSF.

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