Cork City Council has been accused by Cork Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould of behaving like the Office of Public Works over the manner in which it allowed the costs of the refurbishment of a historic fireman’s rest in the city centre soar to more than €361,000.
Mr Gould said it was “a scandalous waste of public money” to spend so much on refurbishing the structure on Anglesea Street at a time when people were waiting for years on the council’s housing list and public patients were waiting years for medical appointment.
“We have just discovered that the cost of refurbishing the fireman’s rest is gone up from €300,000 in 2024 to €326,000 in January and now it’s up to €361,000 – the meter is still running. It’s passed out the Bike Shed in Leinster House at this stage, and that’s saying something,” he said.
Mr Gould obtained a breakdown of expenditure on the fireman’s rest under a Freedom of Information request. It showed €143,750 was spent on metal work repair, restoration and recasting, €112,000 on site works, €25,000 on what is described as “prelims” and almost €19,000 on conservation consultants.
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A further €15,000 was spent on making alterations to the gable of the structure to allow cresting on the roof, while the roof leading cost €12,000. The roof structure cost €3,000 and a limestone plinth (measuring 3.6m by 2.3m) and steps cost €13,300, with another €5,500 on the floor and an additional €4,500 on external doors.
“The one that really left me scratching my head was the scaffolding – almost €5,000 on scaffolding for a structure that’s barely 8ft high – it really is scandalous, and people are incensed by the way public money is being spent on this project,” said Mr Gould.
The fireman’s rest was commissioned by the then Cork Corporation in 1892 and was installed on St Patrick’s Street as a city centre base for on-duty firefighters, who shared it with staff of the old tram company between 1898 and 1930, until it was used exclusively by CIE bus drivers from 1931 to 2003.
It was removed from St Patrick’s Street in 2003 as part of the Beth Gali-designed refurbishment of the street and lay in storage at a Cork City Council yard at Fitzgerald Park until it was re-erected outside Cork City Fire Brigade HQ on Anglesea Street in early 2024.
Cork City Council said the project was subject to a competitive tendering process and therefore prices are reflective of the market prices for such skills and experience, including a standard of conservation craftsmanship that most general construction contractors do not possess.
It “involved the careful, skilled dismantling of the existing structure, transport for stripping, blasting and casting of new panels, extensive repair of cracked cast iron panels, working with wrought iron, lead roofing and stonemasonry to the new cut limestone plinth to replicate the initial scheme.
“The refurbishment of the Fireman’s Rest/Hut is now complete, and it will be opened up to the public during scheduled events. Interpretation panels will be installed at a later point,” said the council in its statement.
