A Longford firefighter says members of the public shouldn't be concerned about more strike action by retained firefighters planned for next week.
Retained firefighters are to resume their strike action in the coming days after voting to reject a Labour Court recommendation for their dispute over pay and conditions.
Ballymahon fireman Michael Farrell who's on the national negotiating committee says members felt the recommendations for an increase in retainer pay, and for more staff to be recruited didn't go far enough to address their concerns.
He says though that in line with the previous strike action in recent weeks, firemen will still be responding to emergency situations.
The inaction by government has already left the societies and the public at risk due to the decrease in manning levels in our stations.
So that's one aspect of it, in relation the current and previous strikes, we will be providing fire cover across the nation during the strike.
People might get confused by the word strike, it's our type of strike. Of course we can't just withdraw our services full stop, it wouldn't be prudent or in the interest of our local communities.
Ultimately we are providing fire and what calls we are calling life threatening calls.'
