A councillor has pleaded with Tipperary County Council to take immediate action and make safe the derelict facade of a former pub on Carrick-on-Suir’s Main Street as he fears it’s in imminent danger of collapsing seriously injuring or killing anyone walking past.
Council officials promised to treat Cllr Kieran Bourke’s complaint about the old Tír na nÓg property in his hometown as a matter of urgency when he highlighted its dangerous condition at the April meeting of Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District’s councillors this afternoon (Thursday, April 23).
The Fianna Fáil councillor is so concerned about the danger the former pub facade poses to public safety that he has urged Council officials to put aside any protocols they must follow to comply with legislation and take action first to make it safe.
He raised the dereliction case while officials from the Council’s Planning Section were updating councillors about planning issues in the district.
He said he had been told the Planning Section was the appropriate department to raise the issue and informed the officials there was a fire at the property a number of years ago and all that was left of the building was its front wall facing onto Main Street.
“I am calling on the Planning to immediately do something about this; this is an accident waiting to happen,” he declared.
Cllr Bourke, who is a former building contractor, said he examined the property yesterday (Wednesday, April 22) and in his opinion it was ready to fall down.
He requested the Council to reduce the front wall of the former pub down to a safe level and warned it was 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.
Fellow Carrick-on-Suir Cllr David Dunne, who is Cathaoirleach of Carrick MD, seconded Cllr Bourke’s call, telling council management the situation has been “left go on too long”.
Tipperary County Council Senior Executive Planner Fergal O’Donnell responded that he spoke with some colleagues in relation to the structure before the meeting and he understood this matter involved a number of council sections including the Environment Section.
He said the property was privately owned but agreed there was clearly a need for immediate action and promised to impress this upon his colleagues after the meeting.
“I will ask them to provide you with an update over the next few days.”
Carrick Municipal District Director of Services Brian Beck explained that the Council’s Environment Section deals with dangerous structures advised that referring the case to that section would be a quicker route to take.
Cllr Bourke responded that he flagged this problem with the Council a number of weeks ago and warned it will be poor consolation if the wall falls down while the local authority referred the case from “Billy to Jack”. Immediate action needed to be taken.
“Tipperary County Council needs to step up to the mark immediately and take action,” he added.
Mr Beck, who is also the Council’s Director of Planning Services, said he took Cllr Bourke’s point but explained the Council needs to be conscious of the legislation governing dangerous structures. This was a privately owned property and the Council needed to follow the legislation before taking action.
But he assured Cllr Bourke, that they would stress the urgency of the matter to the Environment Section, who were aware of the property and have looked at it in the past.
Cllr Bourke countered by arguing that if there was a burst water mains, Uisce Éireann would bypass the need to get a Road Opening Licence and get it fixed first before doing the paperwork. He feared the wall would fall down before the council was ready to take action.
“People are coming into my constituency office and saying they are avoiding walking on that section of the street because they are afraid it will come down on them. I think all this protocol should be put to one side and worry about it afterwards.”
Cllr Dunne supported his comments. “It’s a point well made and long overdue. This has to be treated with urgency,” he said.
The facade of the former Tír na nÓg pub is located next door to Cooney’s Pub where a hoard of 81 gold coins dating from the 17th century was discovered by construction workers in 2013 while that premises was being renovated.
A wooden hoarding displaying pictures celebrating this significant discovery of treasure next door has surrounded the derelict property to improve its appearance since 2014.
Read updated reported on this issue in next week’s edition of The Nationalist that will be on sale in local shops on Wednesday, April 29.
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