Cork to get €13m funding for new fire station, with former Ballincollig station to become training centre

Cork City and county to receive a total allocation of €19.4m, with €3.2m going to a new station in Dunmanway, and €3m for a new station in Mitchelstown, while Crosshaven fire station is to get a €250,000 refurbishment

The former Ballicollig fire station, which locals have long demanded be reinstated, is to be used as a training ground for the city fire service. Picture Larry Cummins

Cork City is to receive a €13m allocation for a new fire station in the western suburbs, part of a €328.5m Government investment in the country’s fire services which will also see Cork county receive two new fire stations.

The Cork City fire station is earmarked for Curraheen, with the disused Ballincollig station, which closed in November 2021, set to become a fire service training centre.

Victor Shine, second officer with Cork City Fire Brigade, said it was “fantastic news” for the city’s fire service, with the new station, when completed, having easy access to the west of the city, the ring roads, and Cork University Hospital.

He added the former Ballicollig fire station, which locals have long demanded be reinstated, is to be used as a training ground for the city fire service.

“We are a large fire service now, the second-largest in the country, and we need a dedicated training area for our firefighters,” he said.

Including the €13m to the city station, Cork City and county are to receive a total allocation of €19.4m, with €3.2m going to a new station in Dunmanway, and €3m for a new station in Mitchelstown. Crosshaven fire station is to get a €250,000 refurbishment.

Cork County Council is to receive three new class B fire appliances, each worth about €500,000, and Cork City Council has been allocated one new class B appliance.

The funding is part of the National Fire Services capital programme, the State’s largest ever investment in fire and emergency services, which will see a landmark €328.5m allocation to modernise Ireland’s fire service between now and 2030.

Local government minister James Browne said the total spend would include, over the next five years:

• €178.6m to build or refurbish 39 fire stations across the country including new fire stations in Dublin, Galway and Cork cities with a major redevelopment planned for Dundalk Fire Station in Co Louth. Three fire authority headquarters will be redeveloped in Ennis, Kilkenny and Navan. 31 retained fire stations will be replaced or refurbished;
• €86.9m for the national fire fleet with 40 new fire appliances allocated across the 27 fire authorities — representing at least one new appliance for each fire authority, with funding set aside for a further allocation later in the programme;
• €29.5m for a programme of works upgrading fire service national training capabilities;
• €23m for in frontline and specialist response equipment and;
• €10.5m for the national mobilisation and communications system.