Council ‘not responsible for public safety on estate’

Westmeath council has said it had no responsibility “from a public safety perspective” for the unfinished housing estate in Athlone where a two-year-old boy drowned.

Environment Minister Phil Hogan has ordered the local authority to “urgently” compile a report for him on the estate after toddler Liam Keogh died on Thursday when he followed his puppy out of his home and through the fence into the nearby unfinished estate.

Liam’s mother realised her son was missing at midday yesterday and within an hour he was found at the nearby Glenatore estate. He had drowned in water close to a water drainage system. His father was working in Wales and flew home that night to be with his wife and four children.

Westmeath County Council issued a statement last night clearing itself of any responsibility for the condition of the estate.

“This estate was identified as an unfinished development in accordance with criteria set out by the Department of Environment. According to these criteria, this development is identified as category 3, being a development ‘where the developer is in place but there is no on-site activity and the developer is responsible for managing the site from a public safety perspective.”

Local politicians have said that the developer, Diskin Enterprises and Athway Construction, had completed remedial safety works on the site but the site was regularly subjected to antisocial behaviour, which included sections of the fence being broken down. Yesterday, locals were out in force fixing the fencing.

Athlone Fine Gael councillor Gabrielle McFadden said she believed the developer had “done his best” to make the site safe. “The safety of ghost estates is something that needs to be considered further but for now my primary focus is with the Keogh family. The people of Athlone are devastated,” she said.

The site was inspected by the Department of the Environment last August and was deemed in “urgent need” of completion.

Last December, Athway Construction applied for retention to finish the estate as the original planning permission had run out.