The Friday View 15/4
Cork city firefighters call off strike action planned for today; a new route northbound in the city centre and our round-up of arts and entertainment over the Easter weekend
Firefighters breathe “sigh of relief” as industrial action halted, but Ballincollig still has no fire service
Cork city firefighters have halted plans to begin industrial action today in relation to a dispute over the provision of fire services in Ballincollig.
The news comes as Cork City Council made an announcement Wednesday evening that they would engage with the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to resolve the dispute.
Cork City Fire Brigade had voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action that stopped short of a full strike, but which involved a work-to-rule and picketing that they had said would not impact on the provision of emergency services.
Billy Crowley is a firefighter with Cork City Fire Brigade and also the union Shop Steward.
Firefighters were breathing “a sigh of relief” to be able to call off the action, he said.
“It’s not something we take lightly because to a certain extent you are affecting the people you’re bound to serve, so we’re delighted with the change of heart on behalf of the council. We’re given to understand that what will be sought here is an expedited process, so we’re hopeful it will be resolved in a matter of weeks instead of months.”
Mr Crowley said firefighters had asked the council executive to engage with the Labour Court process in the past and that council had made a sudden change of position on Wednesday.
The dispute is centred around the withdrawal of fire service from Ballincollig, which is currently also served by Anglesea Street fire station due to understaffing. Ballincollig fell under the management of the County Council until the city boundary extension in 2019.
Cork city is served by four firepumps but only three of them are currently active due to the temporary but ongoing closure of the Ballincollig station.
“Resourcing is something we raised prior to and during the boundary extension and that we received commitments from Cork City Council that they would engage with us on,” Mr Crowley said. “That’s a bigger, long-term picture. The immediate and pressing concern is making sure we’re adequately resourced and the return of the fourth pump is a step in that direction.”
A recruitment process is underway to find so-called “retained,” or part-time, firefighters for Ballincollig: firefighters wanted Cork City Council to put temporary full-time staff in place in Ballincollig, which now has a population of over 20,000, while this recruitment was underway.
Not just an issue for Ballincollig: a stretch for city services
Ballincollig-based councillor Eolan Ryng of Sinn Féin, who called for an interim service for the Ballincollig station at Monday evening’s council meeting, said locals “feel an anxiety” that fire services need to travel from the city centre if there’s a fire or accident in the westerly suburb.
“We want to see a Ballincollig station open again, not only for Ballincollig, but also so the city service can work to capacity,” Cllr Ryng said.
“The firefighters are saying they’re stretched. I’ve spoken to firefighters who have given me anecdotal stories about times when they’ve been very stretched and where they feel it’s only a matter of time before something happens to one of them, or a member of the public, that could have been avoided.”
He renewed his calls for the city executive to arrange short-term provision of fire services in Ballincollig even as the Workplace Relations Commission process is underway.
“The fire service is at 75% capacity. We’ve got the return of cultural, music and sporting events over the summer and we need to know that the city can deal with any incidents that might take place comfortably,” he said.
Council response
The current fire service being provided to Ballincollig by Anglesea St is “safe and effective,” a city council PR representative told Tripe + Drisheen in an email.
“There was never a full time firefighting service in Ballincollig. It was and is a retained or part time fire service.”
“Fire cover was always provided by retained staff until a number of former retained fire fighters at Ballincollig were successful in a Cork City Fire Brigade full time firefighter recruitment campaign and moved from part time at Ballincollig to full time at Anglesea St.”
“Cork City Council is in the process of recruiting these retained fire fighters to work in Ballincollig.”
News in brief
Go north: From April 21, motorists in Cork city will be able to head north on Brian Boru Street parallel to the Leisureplex and continue up Summerhill North to St. Luke’s and the Northside. There will however be no access (right turn) to the Lower Glanmire Road from Brian Boru Street. The new lane is part of the road and street upgrades around MacCurtain Street and the area formerly and briefly known as the Victorian Quarter (by some). The new access route “should shorten journey times for traffic heading north of the city,” the City Council said in a statement.
Chapel Street: Cork Council Council have committed €1.2 million to upgrading flood-prone Chapel Street in Dunmanway. Engineers and construction workers will be on site for approximately seven months as they install new sewers, water mains, traffic calming measures and footpaths. Pat O’Driscoll Plant Hire and Civil Engineering Ltd have been appointed as the main contractor with work scheduled to begin in the coming weeks according to the County Council.
City vigil: A vigil well be held in Bishop Lucey Park next week to remember Aidan Moffitt and Michael Snee who were both brutally murdered in their homes this week in Sligo. The vigil is being organised by Gay Project, LINC and Cork Pride and takes place on Monday, April 16 in the city centre park at 6 p.m.
Photo of the week
A cracker of a photo taken this week by the growers over at Cork Rooftop Farm just off Cornmarket Street (the Coal Quay). The city farm plans to open access to the public this summer and we have their first event pencilled in the diary for late August. Also look out for the improvements CRF have planned the front of their news-ish shop on Cornmarket Street.
Out + About
🎬Seven hours and change. Fancy a marathon-length film? Well if you’ve got seven hours and one minute to spare Table Games is for you. The film is an edited version of a theatre piece staged around this time last year in Leipzig. The game in question is poker and in the theatrical piece six player played for real money. Table Games is by Eva George, Richardson McCrea and Nina Nadig and curated by Ali O’Shea
Time, date, place: April 8-23, Weds - Sat, 12 - 7 pm, The Crypt at St Luke’s
🏛Charting it out: The War of Independence and Civil War Exhibition at Bandon Library marks the centenary of the fight for Irish independence by looking at some of the key battle points and instrumental figures in the war in West Cork. Across 24 panels it tells the story of figures such as Tom Barry, Seán Moylan, Liam Lynch and Michael Collins,.
Time, date, place: Tuesday to Saturday, 9.30 am to 5.30 pm, until April 28 at Bandon Library
🎭Cú Chulainn the Brave: This weekend Cú Chulainn comes to Carrigaline Town Park. The hero will be joined by a host of other characters for a show for all ages that recounts some of his legendary escapades. Tickets are free. More information here.
Time, date, place: 1 pm and 3 pm, Saturday April 16, Carrigaline Town Park
👻Ghosthunting in Cobh: Cobh Supernatural Investigators will be conducting a paranormal investigation into SIRIUS arts centre in Cobh, a building renowned for its unexplained occurences, on Saturday night, alongside artist Marie Brett. Using thermal imaging equipment, electromagnetic meters, temperature meters, ion detectors, and Geiger counters, they’ll be looking for signs of paranormal activity. And if you’re brave enough, you can go too.
Time, date, place: 9 p.m. - 1 a.m,, Saturday April 16 into the wee hours of Sunday April 17 at SIRIUS arts centre in Cobh. The event is free, with limited capacity; email team@siriusartscentre.ie to attend.
🤡Acrobatics! Circus Factory is taking over the courtyard at Wandesford Quay for World Circus Day. They’ll be putting on their shows throughout the day adjoining the gallery which includes a circus disco for kids and an evening cabaret for adults. More information about the shows as well as ticket info available here.
Time, date, place: Various times throughout Saturday, April 16 at Wandesford Quay
This week on T +D
On Monday night Ellie wrote about a nine acre plot of city council land in Hollyhill which has been cleared for sale to the IDA. It’s widely expected that the land will be used in the expansion of the Apple campus. You can read more about the vote at city council and reactions to it here.
On Thursday 19-year-old Alisa Salenko, from Ukraine and recently arrived in Cork, wrote her first piece for Tripe + Drisheen about leaving behind Kyiv and the her family. That piece in full here.
Arts + Culture time: tomorrow morning’s Arts + Culture piece is a sit down with two Tipperary brothers (twins in fact) whose illustrations created up at Sample Studios in Churchfield regularly feature on publications such as The Economist, the Guardian and The New York Times. The Project Twins have a new exhibition that opened this week in Dublin and JJ went along to meet up with them.
