A new state-of-the-art fire station was officially opened in Clifden last Friday by Tony Killeen.
Photocall Pictured after the official opening of the Clifden Fire Station, from left: Cllr Josie Conneely, Cllr Tom Welby, Cllr Seósamh Ó Cuaig, Mr Frank Fahey, TD, Mr Declan Mannion, Chamber of Commerce, Mr Pádraig McCormack,TD, Mr Seán Kyne, Deputy Mayor, Galway County Council, Senator Fidelma Healy Eames and Cllr Connie Ní Fhartha. Front, from left: Mr Gerard King, Station Officer, Mr Frank Gilmore, Director of Services, Mr Michael Raftery, Chief Fire Officer, Mr Tony Killeen, TD, Minister of State at the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government who performed the official opening, and Ms Martina Moloney, Galway County Manager. Grianghraf: Cormac Ó Cionnaith
Opening of Clifden Fire Station a proud day Anton McNulty THIRTY years after the call for a new fire station in Clifden was first made, the new €1.5 million state-of-the-art station was officially opened last Friday, by Tony Killeen TD, Minister of State at the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
The new development at Europe’s most westerly fire station is fully kitted-out with the most modern equipment, and has three fire bays and two fire tenders. The station has a crew of eleven covering an area of 372 square kilometres, including Inisbofin, and serving 9,500 people with that number increasing in the summer time.
As well as providing a service for the wider Connemara region, it will act as a training centre for crews from across the country, who will stay in the town for two weeks at a time. Mr Gerard King, Chief Fire Officer of Clifden Station, said this would provide a major boost to the local economy.
“The new station will become a training facility to train new recruits from around the country. We will have 16 students from throughout the country staying for two weeks in the town and to have a facility like this in the west of Ireland is beyond everyone’s wildest dreams. We now have a dream facility and it will act like a mini-industry for the town because the students will be socialising and eating out in the town,” he said.
Gerard explained to The Mayo News that they were proud of the fire crew in Clifden, who featured in the May and June months of the Holmatro 2008 calendar, which is sent to every fire station in the world. Holmatro are the market leaders in manufacturing hydraulic equipment used by fire crews.
He explained that the comradeship among the crew is excellent and they never have any trouble recruiting new members.
“It is not difficult getting new recruits in Clifden because we have a good group of guys and an awful lot of people want to get into the Clifden crew. There are some stations who have huge difficulties getting recruits but here it is a job they want to do. It is a difficult job and it is difficult for families but it is very rewarding to save a life and the community are all proud of the crew,” he said.
He also thanked the other emergency services, including the RNLI, the Gardaí, Mountain Rescue, Coast Guard and the ambulance service for attending the official opening, and he praised the co-operation of all the services in working together.
The Clifden fire service has been in operation since the 1940s and many of its former crew and the families of the crews were in attendance at the official opening. The selfless work and dedication of the former crews was praised by all at the opening and the Minister paid a special tribute to the families of the crews.
“The work of the fire fighters was sadly brought to light by the death of three fire fighters last year. The truth is most of us take for granted the work the fire service and the rescue services take on on behalf of all of us. I do think that to whatever extent we occasionally acknowledge the work of the front-line services, we hardly ever acknowledge the sacrifices and worries of the family members. On behalf of the Government, I would like to express a debt of gratitude to the families and acknowledge their sacrifices,” he said.
The Clifden fire brigade received 137 call-outs in 2007 and the excellent service and dedication was acknowledged by Ms Martina Maloney, Manager of Galway County Council. She said that the opening of the new station was the culmination of a long journey by all those who campaigned for the new station and the fire fighters and the community should be proud of their new facilities. She also added that the Council would continue to ensure that the staff were well-trained and equipped.
