This article is from page 13 of the 2007-12-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
ENNIS Town Manager Tom Cough- lan has rejected claims of a cover up in the aftermath of the fire that de- stroyed Bredin’s Hardware store.
Reacting to comments made by Independent Councillor Frankie Neylon, Mr Coughlan said the coun- cil had not misled the public on the problems associated with water pres- sure in the area and that council of- ficials had been upfront and honest.
Town Engineer Tom Tiernan said he resented the fact that the integrity of council staff had been called into question and the talk of a cover up.
Speaking at yesterday’s meeting of Ennis Town Council Mr Tiernan said, “The response to some of what I said at the time was upsetting and surprising. The integrity of my staff was called into question and I resent that.
He added, “I am particularly dis- appointed that words like cover-up were used. I resent that. I could say a lot more about what was said on the airwaves’.
Mr Tiernan also acknowledged problems existed with water pressure in the town.
Mr Coughlan said, “I don’t see
any cover up. We have given you the facts as they are. There has been no cover up in this council. We are only running away from facts if we cover
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Fire destroyed Bredin’s hardware on the Station Road after a blaze erupted at the premises on Novem- ber 7. Fire units from Ennis with as- sistance from units from Shannon,
Scariff and Ennistymon brought the blaze control.
At yesterday’s meeting Cllr Neylon re-iterated his view that had water pressure been sufficient, the building
could have been saved.
“We can cover it up all we want but anybody who was out on the road that morning would have noticed the lack of water. I was amazed at the decision to let it burn out. The bottom line that morning was water Kee Rome
After presenting a report on the Fire Service’s response to the fire, Chief Fire Officer Adrian Kelly admitted there had been problems with water pressure and defended the decision made to contain the fire and restrict it from spreading to nearby buildings.
He told the meeting, “The decision was made to contain the fire and not let it spread. Where there are lives at stake we would take a different ap- proach”.
The council also unanimously backed a motion to support Clare County Council’s request for a water tanker for Ennis.
Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) said the council had failed in its responsa- bility to provide a satisfactory water
supply.