Ulster rugby showing ‘absolute disrespect’ to Grenfell victims by extending sponsorship with Kingspan

Irish rugby side Ulster have been accused of showing “absolute disrespect” for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire by signing a new sponsorship deal with Kingspan.

The Irish building materials supplier has been accused of providing combustible material that contributed to the rate of spread of a fire that claimed 72 lives at Grenfell Tower, London, in 2017.

On Wednesday, the province announced a one-year extension to a sponsorship arrangement that sees Kingspan’s logo feature on playing jerseys and selected leisurewear. Kingspan also has a 10-year contract with Ulster that sees its Belfast home labelled the Kingspan Stadium until the end of the 2023/4 season.

In a statement, Grenfell United, a group made up survivors and bereaved families of the tragedy, has called on Ulster to cut ties with the Irish company. “We have met with Jonny Petrie [Ulster Rugby CEO] and his team multiple times during their previous sponsorship deal,” read the statement.

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“We urged him and the board to cut all ties with Kingspan, including sharing with them a large file of evidence from the public inquiry about Kingspan’s contribution to our families’ deaths which speaks for itself.”

In December 2021, the Mercedes Formula 1 outfit backed out of a sponsorship agreement with Kingspan after public outcry to the initial announcement of the deal. Britain’s secretary of state for levelling up at the time, Michael Gove, was among those to call on Mercedes to rethink their deal.

Following the Mercedes incident, Mr Gove also wrote to Ulster in 2021 asking them to consider their sponsorship deal with Kingpsan.

The inquiry into the Grenfell tragedy has revealed a number of details that has led groups such as Grenfell United to call on organisations to cut ties with Kingspan. In December 2020, Kingspan’s former managing director Peter Wilson stood down after it emerged that the firm used out of date fire tests to market materials.

According to the Grenfell United statement, the evidence before the inquiry was “enough for Mercedes to cut ties with Kingpsan for their Formula 1 team in 2021. Instead, Ulster Rugby have decided to disregard these facts, and not just cut previous ties, but to extend their deal”.

“We urge all supporters of the club to stand with us and demand the board reverse this decision. It is time that all teams across the sporting world start thinking about ethical sponsorship and not just money.”

In January 2021, Grenfell United first wrote to Ulster asking them to sever ties with Kingpsan. The following March, Ulster’s CEO responded to the letter, citing Ulster’s partnership with the company which stems back to 1999 and “legal obligations” that limited what he could say while the public inquiry was ongoing.

Mr Petrie told Grenfell United that he had been monitoring the inquiry “closely” and that he had engaged with Kingpsan on the matter. He said they would be reviewing the findings of the inquiry “in detail.”

Phase one of the report produced by the public inquiry into the Grenfell fire lists two kinds of insulation boards in the building, “either Celotex RS5000 polyisocyanurate (PIR) polymer foam or (in very limited quantities) Kingspan K15 phenolic polymer foam, depending on the particular location.” The report also says that “the presence of polyisocyanurate (PIR) and phenolic foam insulation boards behind the aluminium composite material [ACM] panels...contributed to the rate and extent of vertical flame spread.”

According to a statement on its company website, Kingspan “did not supply or recommend K15 to Grenfell Tower. K15 made up approximately five per cent of the insulation layer of the facade system. It was substituted without our knowledge.”

“The inquiry itself has stated that ‘the principal reason’ for rapid fire spread on Grenfell was the polyethylene cored ACM cladding used on the exterior of the building. No facade system using this PE ACM cladding, regardless of the insulation used, would have passed the necessary fire tests. Our K15 insulation board was misused in this unsafe and non-compliant system.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the wholly unacceptable historical issues in testing, marketing and advice which emerged throughout the course of the Inquiry discovery process. We have sincerely apologised for these actions by a small group of employees at our Kingspan Insulation UK business. This in no way reflects Kingspan’s culture or values. These actions were not however causative of the Grenfell Tower fire.”

Ulster Rugby said they had “no comment” in relation to the Grenfell United statement.

Cavan GAA is also sponsored by Kingspan and has been contacted for comment.