Fire Safety Concerns At Blacklion’s Gaelscoil

Five schools across the country have just failed fire safety audits – and a Greystones school was among them.

All of the schools involved were built by Western Building Systems Ltd as part of the Department Of Education’s Rapid Build school programme in 2008.

As part of the design, less fire resistant plasterboard was used in the construction of the schools, and the audits have called for immediate remedial work to be carried out.

The schools in question are Powerstown Educate Together; Mullingar Educate Together in Co Westmeath; Belmayne Educate Together; St Francis of Assissi National School in Belmayne, North Dublin and Gaelscoil Clocha Liath in Greystones.

Concerns were first raised when fire safety compliance issues were recognised in the Rush/Lusk Educate Together school, which was also built by Western Building Systems Ltd.

Of the five schools identified, only Greystones and Mullingar are permanent school buildings.

With Powerstown Educate Together having already moved into a new building, remedial works to address the fire safety issues are currently underway in the four remaining schools.

For local councillor Jennifer Whitmore, the fact that these fire safety issues were raised with the Department of Education in 2015 raises the simple question – what took them so long to recognise the danger here?

“The audit identified a number of deficiencies,” says Whitmore, “including lack of illuminated signage, missing smoke seals and, importantly, that elements of the construction material meant that required 60 minutes of retardation to facilitate evacuation would not be met. Whilst I welcome the identification of the safety issues, I would have to ask how it has taken so long for the safety report to be completed and acted on.”

With the actual fire safety audits having taken place in early-mid 2016, it’s surprising too that the report is only being published now. “Most importantly,” finished Whitmore, “the works have not yet been completed. 

“I find it difficult to understand how such a lengthy delay could happen, particularly when we are talking about a school and the safety of children.”

The department has said it will carry out further fire safety reviews in school buildings, publishing a State contract for a firm to undertake such work in a sample of 25 schools built over the last 20 years.