Grenfell cladding found in second council centre
Tallaght culture facility is latest building to face fire safety probe
SOUTH Dublin County Council has been forced to launch a firesafety probe after it emerged the same brand of cladding blamed for the Grenfell disaster was installed at one of its buildings.
The council has confirmed it will investigate whether the Rua Red Arts Centre in Tallaght features the same aluminium composite cladding involved in the London tower block blaze.
It is the second local authority to launch a fire-safety probe in the wake of the Grenfell disaster after an Irish Daily Mail investigation into the use of the potentially deadly cladding in Ireland.
On Tuesday, we revealed that Cork County Council – on foot of information supplied by this newspaper – was inspecting the Reynobond panels that were used to clad areas of its 17-storey headquarters, Cork County Hall.
Today, we can further reveal that South Dublin County Council has ordered a similar probe into the Rua Red Arts Centre in Tallaght.
In the aftermath of the London inferno, it emerged that a combustible brand of Reynobond – known as Reynobond PE – was used to clad the exterior of the doomed 24-storey tower block in the London borough of Kensington.
Reynobond PE has since been taken off the market by manufacturers Arconic.
The Mail has repeatedly asked South Dublin County Council (SDCC) and Cork County Council (CCC) if they knew which type of Reynobond was used at their buildings.
But both councils have so far failed to clarify whether the deadly form of Reynobond was installed.
It is believed the newly launched probes will establish if contractors used combustible cladding at the two buildings. In a statement to this newspaper, an SDCC spokesman said the Rua Red building – which was built in 2009 at a cost of €10million – complied with current fire regulations and the materials used in its construction posed no risk to staff or visitors.
The spokesman said: ‘Rua Red is a four-storey building with no residential component. It has very low occupancy above first floor due to intermittent use of studios. It is below [an] 18-metre threshold in height. It has two escape stairs with short travel distances and all smoke and heat detection systems and alarms required for a public building.’
The cladding at the Rua Red Arts Centre was installed by construction firm Townlink.
Earlier this month, the firm’s website stated: ‘The Rua Red Arts Centre in Tallaght involved the construction and fit-out of an arts centre... the building was constructed using an in-situ concrete firm. The south elevation involves the use of aluminium curtain walling and Reynobond cladding.’
Days later, the Mail contacted Townlink’s managing director, TJ Walsh. He said: ‘Reynobond was specified by the design team at South Dublin County Council and they supervised the installation of it.’