Apartment block to be evacuated

A COMPLEX of 187 apartments at Donagh-mede, in north Dublin, is to be evacuated on Monday by order of the High Court.

The court was told the complex is a serious fire safety risk and had insurance cover withdrawn this week.

Firefighters have been ordered to maintain a presence at the complex.

The president of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, said the situation is “a very serious emergency”. He would make the evacuation order sought by Dublin City Council but stay the order to Monday to allow the council to find alternative accommodation for residents of the Priory Hall apartments.

The judge, who was told by a fire safety inspector he believed the external walls need to come off the complex to render it safe, said the faults go “to the root and foundation” of the development, which might be “irretrievable” unless full resources are applied.

The judge also made orders freezing the assets of developers Thomas McFeely and Larry O’Mahony, whose company, Coalport, developed the Priory Hall complex in 2006, and directed the papers be sent to the DPP.

There was no reason why either the council or the taxpayer should bear the cost of this “disaster” for which the occupiers of the apartments were “totally blameless”, the judge said.