A Dublin Corporation official has confirmed that there were no fire alarms fitted in the local-authority flats complex which went on fire early yesterday. Twenty-three people, most of them children, were admitted to hospital following the overnight fire in the York Street corporation flats complex, just across the road from St Stephen's Green in Dublin city centre.
The Principal Housing Officer with Dublin Corporation, Mr Brendan Kenny, said the corporation accepted that the York Street flats were in a substandard condition. "The safety situation and the general condition of the flats is unacceptable in this day and age," he said.
Mr Kenny said the building was too old for a fire alarm system to be wired up. The corporation had not fitted battery-operated alarms because they feared the batteries would be removed.
Mr Kenny said the flat complex had been earmarked for refurbishment in the new year. "We are currently in the process of refurbishing all our complexes around the city and they will be brought up to all the safety standards required."