Man captured on CCTV vandalising The George with homophobic graffiti

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It’s the first such instance of vandalism at the iconic venue since the marriage referendum two years ago.

On Friday night, The George Nightclub on George’s Street was the victim of vandalism as an individual wrote homophobic and derogatory remarks on the outside of the iconic club.

The attack happened just days before the two year anniversary of the historic marriage referendum in Ireland.

But according to The Irish Times, the person responsible for writing the homophobic slurs was caught on three CCTV cameras, and the footage is being handed over to Gardaí who are investigating the incident.

It has since been reported that a man in his twenties has since been detained and taken to Pearse Street Garda Station where he’s been questioned in connection with criminal damage to the venue.

The graffiti was written in chalk on the outside of the bar on Geroge’s Street in Dublin City Centre and was swiftly cleaned away on Saturday morning.

Yesterday, in a statement on their Facebook page, The George said:

“Thanks for all the support and messages today. We are shocked and truly disheartened to see our building vandalised especially with the anniversary of the equality vote this weekend. But at times like these our community has come together in support like it always does. We won’t let this ruin us celebrating today’s anniversary ⚅⚄⚃⚂⚁⚀ #TheGeorge #togetherstronger.”

This incident is the first instant of vandalism at the bar since the the marriage referendum two years ago.

Hold on a sec…

 

On Episode 12 of Ireland’s first social chat show we have Alex Murphy and Chris Walley of The Young Offenders fame, music from Corkman Eoghan McElhinney and a chat with Irish sprinter Gina Akpe-Moses.

 

We’re tackling the world’s most sour sweets in Freaky Foods, Joe Gorman is masquerading as a famous DJ, and we look at the difference between pubs in the country and pubs in the Big Shmoke…

 

 

https://www.joe.ie/news/man-captured-cctv-vandalising-george-homophobic-graffiti-588911

 

 

Chief Fire Officer calls for more resources to carry out fire safety inspections, in wake of Grenfell tragedy

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Dublin’s Chief Fire Officer has called for more resources for local authorities to carry out fire safety inspections, in wake of the Grenfell tower tragedy in London.

Patrick Fleming said that the resources are needed to prevent such tragedies that left 79 people dead.

Lord Mayor Mícheál Mac Donncha welcomed the call saying that on-site inspections are needed.

“The Grenfell tragedy in London has again highlighted the need for absolute vigilance in fire prevention and fire safety. I welcome the call by Chief Fire Officer Patrick Fleming for more resources for local authorities to carry out building control inspections.”

He added that the current system was introduced in the wake of the evacuation of the Priory Hall apartment complex.

“That near tragedy showed the failure of the self-certification system. While new regulations have seen some improvement this problem will become more acute as building and development continues.

“In this regard I welcome the fact that plans are being implemented in Dublin City Council to introduce a system of onsite inspections during construction for fire safety issues (Part B of the Building Regulations)”.

Earlier this week, calls were made to remove Grenfell Tower- type cladding from the headquarters of Cork County Council.

Independent.ie understands that Cork County councillors were emailed to notify them that the cladding was installed around the exterior of the second floor of County Hall, the floor that contains the main council chamber.

However, they were assured that the cladding currently imposes no increased risk of danger.

In an email seen by Independent.ie, councillors were told “the Council’s Facilities Manager and Chief Fire Officer have reviewed the matter and having regard to the limited extent of the use of the panel, the nature of the use of the building and the fire safety measures installed, the use of the panelling meets all fire safety requirements and does not pose any increased risk to the users of the building.”

Cork County Council has since commissioned a report investigating the nature of its installation, and says further action will be taken should the investigation raise any concerns.

The cladding was installed during a €62m refurbishment of the 17-storey County Hall which was finished in 2006.

Despite reassurances from the council, Fine Gael councillor Derry Canty says that the cladding should still be removed as soon as possible.

“I think the best thing for everybody is to remove it,” Cllr. Canty said.

“If it’s there, it’s left there and everyone is just worrying about it.

“We’re only in there for meetings but you have staff sitting in there all day. I believe this should be done post-haste, let’s get on with it.”

However, one Independent councillor, Marcia D’Alton, said she has no concerns about continuing to meet in the building, insisting that she has confidence in the fire safety measures being taken.

“Honestly, I’ve don’t have any concerns. We have been ensured the building has been incredibly well kitted out with sprinklers and the necessary fire precautions,” Cllr. D’Alton said.

“I know the extent to which the building has been electronically modified. It is an incredibly well finished building so I genuinely believe the council when they say the precautions being made are adequate.”

Cork County Council says it currently has a number of comprehensive fire safety measures installed, including sprinkler protection, automatic smoke ventilation, detection and an electronic alarm system.

Source – http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/chief-fire-officer-calls-for-more-resources-to-carry-out-fire-safety-inspections-in-wake-of-grenfell-tragedy-35875284.html

 

Dublin’s chief fire officer says more resources needed to carry out inspections

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DUBLIN FIRE BRIGADE’S Chief Fire Officer has said that local authorities are best placed to carry out building control inspections in the wake of the Grenfell fire but resources aren’t available to do it.

Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Patrick Fleming said local authorities need more resources to carry out the inspections:

Well I think every local authority has a building control section, and fire services as well, and the local authority system is probably the best situated service in order to provide that.

“However it does need the resources to do that and that is where there may be some issues,” he concluded.

Responding to Fleming’s point on the same programme the Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy outlined his department’s reaction to the deadly London blaze, which claimed at least 79 lives earlier this month.

“The first responsibility that I think we have here is to ensure that there are fire safety measures in place in all multi-storey buildings.

“We moved very quickly to liaise with the building control authorities, to liaise with the fire authorities to ensure that they were doing this inspection work.

“By the 19th of July we’ll have reports back from the local authorities on their inspection of multi-storey units.

“By that point as well all local authorities will have inspected cladding on buildings over 18 metres.

These are important first steps that we need to take to make sure that people are safe where they live.

Fire safety 

Murphy confirmed in a statement earlier this morning that he had ordered the coordination of a high-level task force to lead the re-appraisal of fire safety in Ireland.

The Minister has ordered a series of measures to be completed by the task force in the weeks ahead to ensure that all available precautionary measures are taken to prevent a similar fire happening here.

“While preliminary work shows that there are no situations in Ireland directly comparable to Grenfell Tower,” 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.”

Taking action

The National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management is charged with coordinating the task force.

This body reported on the national audit of fire safety in Traveller accommodation in the wake of the Carrickmines fire in 2015, which killed five adults, five children and one unborn baby.

The directorate will work with building standards and social housing divisions at the Housing Department, in addition to the chief fire officer in Dublin.

A review of how each local authority’s fire service is prepared to deal with a large-scale incident is underway.

Landlords are also being notified of their obligations in terms of fire safety requirements.

Further measures

As well as the measures already taken, Murphy has ordered a number of other steps to be taken in the weeks ahead to ensure the country is doing everything it can to avoid a similar fire here.

These include the publication of a guide on undertaking fire safety assessments and a renewed focus on the preparedness of local authorities for a large-scale emergency.

Murphy will also update his cabinet colleagues on the post-Grenfell situation in Ireland, and meet with local authority chief fire officers in the coming weeks to review current plans for fire safety initiatives.

He closed the statement outlining the measures by urging every householder in Ireland to “ensure that the most effective and straightforward measure for safeguarding families from fire – smoke alarms – are installed and fully functional in every home and are tested regularly”.

“Systematic re-check”

Last week, Leo Varadkar’s government lost its first vote since he became Taoiseach, when a Green Party motion on building standards – made more pertinent by the Grenfell blaze – passed through the Dáil.

Yesterday, calls were made to extend fire safety checks beyond multi-floor social housing units following the discovery that the same cladding used in Grenfell Tower was used in the headquarters of Cork County Council.

The council confirmed that a similar aluminium material used in Grenfell Tower is currently installed around the exterior of the council chamber within the main foyer of the building.

The cladding was installed during a €62 million refurbishment of the Council Hall which was completed in 2006.

Reacting to the news, Green Party deputy leader Catherine Martin TD said that Minister Murphy “must order a systematic re-check of fire safety in buildings”.

“It’s extremely worrying that the flammable cladding, believed to have contributed to the spread of the awful fire in Grenfell Tower, was installed here in Ireland,” she said.

Independent TD Tommy Broughan also raised worries that the unsafe cladding used in the UK may have been used here too.

He said: “The same restrictions apply in Ireland that you can’t use non-compliant material yet it has been used in the UK and we need to know now if it has also been used in Ireland.”

Source – http://www.thejournal.ie/grenfell-tower-ireland-3466980-Jun2017/?utm_source=shortlink