Councillor 'gobsmacked' area around Tipperary pub ruin not cordoned off for public safety
Cllr Kieran Bourke has expressed shock and disappointment that Tipperary County Council has not moved to take this action following serious concern he raised about the condition of the facade wall of the former Tír na nÓg pub in Carrick-on-Suir
A councillor says he is “gobsmacked”, “disappointed” and “frustrated” that Tipperary County Council hasn't cordoned off the area around the facade wall of a former pub on Carrick-on-Suir's Main Street to protect the public since he highlighted his fear that it's in imminent danger of collapse.
Carrick-on-Suir Cllr Kieran Bourke pleaded with the Council to take immediate action to make safe the ruins of the former Tír na nÓg property in his hometown when he voiced serious concerns about its condition at the Apil meeting of Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District's councillors last Thursday.
The Fianna Fáil councillor was so concerned about the danger the former pub facade poses to people walking past the property or parking their vehicles outside it that he urged Council officials to put aside any protocols they must follow to comply with legislation and take action first to make it safe as it was an “accident waiting to happen”.
Cllr Bourke, who is a former building contractor, told council officials he examined the property the day before the District meeting and, in his opinion, it was ready to fall down.
He requested the Council to reduce the front wall down to a safe level and warned it would be too late to leave this work go for weeks.
“I think this is an emergency and needs to be treated as an emergency,” he insisted.
Since his appeal, the Council's Town Regeneration Officer Shane Grogan said Council staff met with a director of the company that owns the property at the site on Monday evening.
He said the meeting was scheduled before Cllr Bourke issued his appeal as part of the Council's ongoing engagement with the company over a period of months with the aim of getting the property redeveloped.
Council staff made the company director aware of the concerns voiced by Cllr Bourke about the danger it poses and that there is a lot of public concern about the facade.
He said the Council commissioned a structural engineers report on the condition of the facade a number of months ago as part of its ongoing engagement with the property owner. This report concluded the structure does not present an immediate risk of collapse.
Mr Grogan said the report found that while the plaster work was cracking, the wall behind the plaster was structurally sound.
He said the Council requested on Monday that the company address this issue with the plaster work over the coming weeks. In the meantime the Council's engineers in the Environment Section are looking into what can be done. If a follow up structural engineers report is required, the Council would get that done.
He stressed it was primarily up to the property owner to address the problem with the facade wall and indicated the company that owned the site was due to come back to the Council in the next few days about the matter.
Mr Grogan also confirmed there are no plans at the moment to cordon off the area around the Tír na nÓg property.
Cllr Bourke responded he was just “gobsmacked” and “disappointed” that the Council hasn't moved since he issued his public appeal to cordon off the footpath in front of the Tír na nÓg property.
He asked the Council was it 100% sure the facade wall was safe for the public as he doesn't believe it is safe. He believes the condition of the facade wall has deteriorated since the structural engineer's report was conducted a few months ago.
“This isn't a derelict building. It's a free standing wall, which in my opinion is unsafe and it causing a potential danger to pedestrian walking by and car owners parking their cars outside. I am very frustrated,” he declared.