Woman struck by falling debris on Cork's St Patrick's St

A woman had a lucky escape on her way to work on Thursday morning after she was struck by falling masonry from a building on St Patrick's Street.

A small amount of debris fell from the former Moderne building, now the Superdry clothes shop. It is understood that part of a second floor window frame fell into the street below.

Niamh Hegarty was walking through the city on her way to work and was struck by the debris, suffering neck and back injuries. She was helped by passers-by before being brought by ambulance to the Mercy Hospital but was discharged a short time later.

It is understood that her backpack with her laptop took the brunt of the impact.

Her mother Debbie said that she has been discharged and that she was "very fortunate" to escape a major injury.

Four units of Cork city's fire brigade and members of the gardaí attended the scene, cordoning off the footpath for a number of hours in the morning to ensure that the building is safe. They had left the scene by 2pm.

It is the second such issue in Cork city in recent months. In June, the partial collapse of a building on North Main Street saw the road temporarily blocked to traffic while safety precautions were put in place.

Works to stabilise the buildings on North Main Street took place in July and the road has been fully open to traffic since.

Crews currently dealing with an incident on St Patrick Street.

Area of the footpath closed whiles the scene is made safe. #NotJustFires pic.twitter.com/LxxAueh1TP

— Cork City Fire Brigade (@CorkCityFire) September 12, 2019

A spokesperson for Cork City Council confirmed that "a small amount of masonry" fell from the building.

"The Fire Brigade and Building Control attended the scene," she said.

"The owners of the building were contacted and had their technical advisors inspect the building.

"Remedial works are to be carried out to the front facade. Cork City Council is working with the building owners to ensure that the works are commenced as soon as possible.

"There will be a partial closure of the footpath outside the building until the planned works are completed."