A Roscommon Councillor says he will not give up on his efforts to re-open Castlerea Fire Station.
The issue was raised at this month's meeting of the local authority where council officials stated a review of the fire service in mid-2020 met with national standards.
However, Paschal Fitzmaurice was disappointed with the response of the council executive and he believes a new report must be carried out with a view to re-opening the west Roscommon base.
Outgoing Chief Executive Eugene Cummins warned the chamber that if a new review was to be carried out, it could result in a recommendation that would see some stations close and others open.
Councillor Fitzmaurice says it’s totally inadequate for Castlerea to be relying on neighbouring crews to respond to calls in under half an hour.
The Fianna Fail representative claims the statistics from the 2020 review don’t paint an accurate picture:
"I think the statistics that were shown showed a reduced number of fires in the Castlerea area but we have to remember that when Castlerea fire station was open, they serviced a larger area than just Catlerea so, of course, it will look like there are less fires now because stats just looked at the area of Castlerea and the town and its surrounding areas.
When it comes to fire it is so important to have that service that statistics are no good and I think it's totally inadequate for us to be expecting a fire service to travel from Ballaghaderreen or Ballyhaunis or Elphin or Roscommon."
