FOLLOWING an early morning blowout at Irish Cement two in recent weeks, which saw residents wake to find cars and property covered in a white dust, action has now been called for from the Council.
At this month’s Metropolitan area meeting, Social Democrats councillor Elisa O’Donovan proposed that a community liaison committee be established with immediate effect for the Mungret, Raheen, and Dooradoyle areas, as stipulated in the planning conditions for the site.
Seconding her motion, Labour Party councillor Joe Leddin called for meaningful dialogue and communication between Irish Cement and the Council, expressing disappointment that councillors are not being notified about such blowout incidents.
“There has been a lot of concern in recent years in terms of emissions out of Irish Cement. As councillors, we are getting calls whenever there is an incident out there and people wake up in the morning and find white dust all over their car and property,” Cllr Leddin said.
The Labour councillor said he had gotten “multiple calls recently from residents in the greater Mungret area who came out to find their cars covered in white particles”.
“We’re the first port of call for most people when there’s an issue, but if we’re being kept in the dark … there’s obviously a breakdown in terms of communication when there’s an incident.”
Fine Gael councillor Daniel Butler said that the most recent incident was brought to his attention and he notified the Council. However, he explained that it is the primary responsibility of Irish Cement and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to log such incidents.
“The EPA investigated it. I think Irish Cement has acknowledged that there was an incident … when a truck was being loaded with cement. The pipe that connects with the truck somehow came dislodged and then there was quite a significant amount of dust covering the immediate area,” he added.
The Council said that it is commencing the establishment of the community liaison committee, which will be in place by the end of the year.
