Firefighters strike could escalate on Monday
Fire service personnel at Inishowen’s three fire stations are taking part in the week-long rolling industrial action
Inishowen's three fire stations will be closed over the coming days as part of an industrial dispute involving retained firefighters.
Strike action by Donegal County Council fire service personnel at Buncrana fire station on Tuesday is to be followed by action by colleagues in Carndonagh on Wednesday and in Moville on Thursday.
Buncrana fire station will be closed again on Friday and next Monday with Carndonagh closed on Saturday. The action will affect Moville again on Sunday.
Around 140 members of the retained fire service in Donegal are joining colleagues across the country as part of the dispute between the trade union Siptu and the Government and local authorities.
The action is taking place at 15 of the 17 fire brigades across the county, with the services on Tory and Arranmore not affected.
The dispute is about pay, conditions and what Siptu says is a need for the restructuring of the service so new recruits can be attracted to vacant posts.
The action began at midnight on Monday and five stations across the county will be out of action each day until next Monday.
Siptu says arrangements for pay, conditions and work-life balance are not fit for purpose and as a result a large number of fire stations in the county are understaffed.
Kevin McKinney, Siptu industrial officer in Donegal, said that after next Monday the action “may continue in the same vein or we may up the ante in terms of what stations we take out”.
Nationally, 50% of stations in some areas are striking at the one time but the decision was made in Donegal not to go that far at this stage, he said.
“I think that would have been more harmful to the county.”
He said Siptu has rejected the contingency plan the council has put forward for the strike as totally inadequate.
“It’s a terrible situation to be in. It doesn't sit well with our members but we have no choice.”
Siptu is looking for “a rank and file restructuring” of fire services in local authorities across the country, “which would mean they would have to look at the pay structure”.
He said the pay does adequately compensate for the service firefighters provide due to “the vocational side of it” and “the on-call nature of it”.
One aspect that is not recognised “is the horrific accidents and situations that they have to deal with,” he said.
Requests for fire brigade assistance should continue to be made as normal by dialling 999 or 112, Donegal County Council said.
In a statement, the local authority said its priority during the strikes is to ensure public safety and householders should ensure that they have working smoke alarms fitted and that they are checked weekly.
The council also called on business owners to ensure that they have a functioning fire detection and alarm system fitted and that it is within its service schedule.