We're not the bad guys, say Rockville Drive residents

The residents at the centre of a stand-off over temporary accommodation for survivors of the Carrickmines fire say they are not “the bad guys”.

The locals have blockaded Rockville Drive since Tuesday over plans to move four mobile homes onto adjoining land to house 14 people affected by Saturday’s blaze, which killed 10 people.

The residents say they have serious fire safety concerns because of the narrowness of the road leading up to the site and they say the site itself is a flood risk in winter.

A woman identifying herself as a local resident said that the road is 4.9m in width, which see claimed would be in breach of fire regulations.

Read:

Read More:

Residents of Rockville Drive release statement

They say they are now being terrorised by protesters, who are calling for the site to be opened immediately.

Local residents in Rockville Drive say 8 families have moved out in recent days. Garda presence still here. Impasse continues #Carrickmines

— Zara King (@ZaraKing) October 16, 2015

Discussions between residents and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council are continuing this afternoon.

Local Councillor and former Minister Mary Hanafin said that the right thing to do is to open the site to the families.

“I think you need to show your sympathy in your actions as well as your words,” she said.

“What the Council were asking this particular estate to do was to take, on an emergency basis, not even a temporary, on an emergency basis, for six months, four bays for 14 people, including two children who were orphaned last weekend,” she said.

“And the right thing to do is to let those families be on that site, in an emergency context.”