The town of Moate in Co Westmeath is to lose its fire brigade because sufficient staff cannot be found to run the service.
Westmeath County Council said it made a number of attempts to recruit staff to operate the service over the past two years, but to no avail.
Mr George Lambden, county secretary, said nine staff were required to provide a fully manned service. "We had the possibility of recruiting four people but that was not adequate," he said.
As a result of the staffing problem, he said Moate had been serviced by fire stations in Athlone, Kilbeggan and Clara over the past two years. These are up to 11 kilometres away. He said this arrangement had worked well and the council was satisfied it could provide a very good fire service to Moate from the other towns. Mr Lambden said the fire stations in Athlone and Kilbeggan would be upgraded to provide a more extensive service and a decision had been taken to close the Moate station.
The council is negotiating with the two remaining people who work with the Moate service in an attempt to reach some agreement, he confirmed.
The chairman of the local chamber of commerce, Mr Joe Whelan, expressed concern about the demise of the service. "There was an incident recently that raised concerns for me. A family in the Moate area had a chimney fire and had to wait 15 minutes for the fire brigade to arrive from Kilbeggan," he said.
He added that this latest loss was indicative of a general decline in services in Moate. The town's railway station was idle and soon the town would be bypassed, he said.
A local Fianna Fail councillor, Mr Tom Allen, said he had tried everything to keep the service open.
"I suppose it's a sign of the times. People are very busy. There is very little unemployment and it is harder to get people to take a job like this on. It's a very big commitment and the rewards are very poor," he said.