Laois chosen as home of new €4m national rescue training centre following Creeslough tragedy
Abbeyleix to be home of new national training centre for complicated rescues
Laois has been chosen to be the home of Ireland’s first national technical rescue training centre, to ensure Irish firefighters have expertise in times of disasters like the Creeslough tragedy in Donegal.
The training centre in Knocknamoe, Abbeyleix is expected to cost €4m.
It will bring a local economic boost, but not too much traffic, according to Laois County Council Director of Services Simon Walton.
"This is a standalone national training centre, the only one of its kind in the state,” he explained to Laois councillors at the monthly council meeting, held on Monday, October 19.
"There are four lead authorities, Laois, Dublin city, Galway and Cork city. They will all be equipped with bespoke machinery to support the whole urban rescue.
“In addition, it is further proposed that Abbeyleix, subject to approval of the proposals published, will act as the single National Training and Learning Centre for Urban Search and Rescue, supporting enhanced response capabilities for structural collapses, partial building collapses, infrastructure failures, confined-space emergencies, severe weather-related structural damage etc.
“A lot of this is following on from the tragedy at Creeslough,” he said.
He is reassuring Abbeyleix residents who may be concerned at increased traffic.
"There won’t be busloads of people arriving every day. It will be very specific training to a maximum of 15 to 20 people on any given day. In terms of impact, traffic wise will be minimal.
"In addition to the kudos of having a centre in Laois, there is also a knock-on economic dividend to the local community, that will be very positive,” Mr Walton said at the monthly meeting on Monday.
He agreed to engage with the local residents, at the request of Cllr John Joe Fennelly, who also predicts "a huge spin-off for businesses in the town”.
Cllr John King praised Laois County Fire and Rescue’s Assistant Chief Fire Officer Anthony Tynan for his work on the project.
“There will be a mannequin hidden in rubble and they will be training on their time and the equipment. It will be great for businesses as well because all those people will have to stay somewhere,” the ex fireman explained.
The plan is for a classroom building, steel framed rope rescue, agricultural / machinery rescue building, extended rubble pile, ‘confined space’ training rig, heights rescue training tower and silo training rig.
In parallel to the Part 8 process, the council documentation is being produced to hire an engineer led design team to design and supervise the construction of the facility.
The Part 8 plans will be on public display online on consult.laois.ie and in Abbeyleix library, from this Thursday, October 22 until November 19, with public submissions accepted by the council up to December 5.