1 November 2023
By Bryan McCarthy
bryan@TheCork.ie
“Two years since its closure, Ballincollig is still without the fire service it deserves”
Sinn Féin local area representative for Ballincollig, Joe Lynch, has said that the continued closure of Ballincollig fire station represents ‘a complete failure to provide a fire service that the people of Ballincollig deserve’.
Outgoing Sinn Féin councillor for the South West ward, Eolan Ryng, previously described the proposal to have a fire brigade ‘presence’ in Ballincollig – but no full-time reopening of Ballincollig station – as a ‘fudge’, saying it fell far short of ‘what the people of Ballincollig need and deserve’.
Joe-Lynch-at-Ballincollig-fire-station
Sinn Féin’s Joe Lynch said:
“November 2023 marks two years since the doors of Ballincollig fire station were shut.
“Throughout that time, the people of Ballincollig have been denied the service they were promised when the city boundaries were redrawn.
“Cork City firefighters have engaged in industrial action in the intervening period relating to various issues, including Ballincollig fire station, and we in Sinn Féin commend them in their fight for more resources and their successful campaign to secure a fourth fire pump for the City. They do Trojan work, and we cannot commend them enough.
“Unfortunately, due to the complete failure of Council management, it is clear that the campaign for a full-time station in Ballincollig is going to continue. In recent months, local Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael councillors abstained on a motion in City Hall directing the Council to reopen Ballincollig fire station. That was a serious mistake.
“Sinn Féin will continue to fight tooth and nail for the reinstatement of a full-time fire station in Ballincollig; a service befitting a town with a population nearing 20,000 people. Nothing less will suffice.”