Cork firefighters to vote on council proposal over Ballincollig Fire Station row 

A revised Cork City Council proposal relating to the closure of Ballincollig Fire Station will be put to a vote of SIPTU members next week in an effort to finally resolve industrial action tensions.

It comes just days after Cork city firefighters issued the council with an ultimatum following disappointment around a proposal it was initially hoped would end industrial action.

Firefighters rejected the offer of a day-time fire station in Ballincollig, which lost its retained fire brigade in the wake of a city boundary extension in 2019.

The proposal was outlined during talks between firefighters’ union representatives and officials of Cork City Council which was facilitated by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

While disappointed with the lack of progress, SIPTU members said they would provide Cork City Council with a one week’s grace period to prepare a revised and meaningful proposal.

The contents of the updated proposal will be released to SIPTU members this Saturday before their votes are recorded from early next week. Limited industrial action will continue until Saturday of this week.

A Cork City Fire Brigade source said they are hopeful the outcome of the vote will be positive.

“We won’t be releasing the proposal until our own people see it which will be on Saturday morning. It will then be put to a vote. We are trying to do this as early as possible next week. If everyone is happy with this proposal then the industrial action will cease.” 

The source explained why SIPTU members rejected the reopening of Ballincollig Fire Station as a day-time service. 

“It wasn’t something we were happy with at the time,” they said. “For us, it’s important that everyone is on board. We all know that over the next few years the brigade is going to get bigger. There’s an expectation that we’ll have more stations more vehicles, more people - a bigger brigade for a bigger city. 

"Because of that it’s important that firefighters - the people who are actually on the ground - are involved in that process. 

"It’s also important the council buy into this. At the end of the day, the fire brigade belongs to everyone in Cork city.” 

They emphasised the importance of healthy communication between Cork City Council and SIPTU members.

“At the end of the day this is up to the firefighters. Nothing is achieved without compromise on both sides and without communication we will never achieve anything. It’s important to keep the lines of communication open and to have a spirit of compromise. We are glad that Cork City Council have taken on board what we are bringing to the table and can only hope for a meaningful proposal.”