Half of Mayo fire stations to remain closed this week

HALF of Mayo’s 12 fire stations will remain closed over the coming days as part of ongoing strike action by the country’s retained firefighters.

Today (Tuesday, August 7), Claremorris, Kiltimagh, Ballina, Belmullet, Charlestown and Westport fire stations will be closed from 8am to 8pm, with the remainder scheduled to close on various days this week.

Fire services from the nearest station will continue to respond to all life-threatening situations.
Over the weekend, fire fighters in Westport had to attend a call in Ballyconneely in Galway while Clifden fire station was on strike.

Similarly, Westport firefighters responded to a call in Mulranny, which would normally be dealt with by crew from Achill, while yesterday evening (Monday) crew from Kiltimagh attended a car fire in Castlebar.

Las Friday, retained firefighters protested outside Mayo County Council’s Castlebar offices to highlight their concerns.

This follows the rejection of a government offer that would see retained firefighter’s ‘retainer’ payment rise by between 24 and 32 percent.

The deal came on foot of a Labour Court recommendation, which also recommended adding 400 more personnel to the retained service, changes to premium payments and the introduction of community-based fire prevention programmes.
Currently, retained firefighters earn €8,500 plus additional income per call. They must be within 2.5 kilometres of their station at all times except when taking annual leave.

Tom Ketterick, chairman of the National Association of Retained Firefighters (NRFA) national negotiating team, told The Mayo News yesterday evening (Monday) that there would be no de-escalation of industrial action in the coming days.

A meeting is to be held at SIPTU headquarters in Dublin tomorrow (Wednesday), where the possibility of an all-out strike will be considered.

“We’re not sure at the moment what the escalation will be because that has to be discussed,” said Mr Ketterick.

Meanwhile, general election candidate Harry Barrett has called on Fianna Fáil members of Mayo County Council to demand that Minister for Housing and Local Government, Darragh O’Brien, ‘swiftly reach a just and conclusive resolution with the Retained Firefighters regarding their ongoing pay dispute’.

The former Labour Castlebar town councillor has called for the council to pass a motion advocating ‘a fair and final settlement that reflects their hazardous responsibilities’.

The ongoing dispute between retained firefighters and the Department of Housing and Local Government has been raised in the European Parliament by MEP Maria Walsh, who has called for minimum pay and conditions for firefighters across the EU.

Aontú’s Mayo representative and local election candidate Paul Lawless has also called for a resolution to the dispute, stating that Mayo’s fire service is ‘on its knees’.