Condition of Fermoy building again highlighted
Following the partial collapse of a building in Mitchelstown on Wednesday evening of last week, concerns have again surfaced concerning the danger posed by a building in Lower Patrick Street, Fermoy.
“Are we going to have another collapse like Mitchelstown in Fermoy? The plaster on the building is ready to fall and this building is taller than the one in Mitchelstown,” one local said, asking: “How long is Fermoy going to be disfigured?”
In February 2020, Cork County Council erected barriers around the former 59 Club, along with signs asking pedestrians to walk on the opposite footpath. Alexanders restaurant as well as The Session Bar & Restaurant also operated from the premises in past years.
At the time, a spokesperson for the council said that it had cordoned off the footpath ‘in the interests of public safety and in anticipation of repairs to the building façade’.
These barriers still remain in place today and large cracks can be seen along the front of the building, while at the back broken window panes can be seen, with some windows left open to the elements.
In June of 2020, a council official in the local authority’s Roads Division provided an overview of works undertaken to shore up the building’s structural integrity. This included the installation of 14 props and officials went on to note that all of the props which were put in place ‘carried down to the masonry of the basement wall’.
Installing these supports removed the ‘imminent risk of a serious structural collapse of the front wall,’ the council said at the time. They also asserted that they have buttressed the front façade of the structure since January.
Following these works, a spokesperson for the council addressed the barrier in place in front of the former 59 Club, stating that it was kept in place as ‘a precaution’ and to offset the ‘potential risk’ from falling plaster from the front façade and cracked cills higher up.
DERELICT SITES REGISTER
A recent meeting of the Fermoy Municipal District saw Councillor Noel McCarthy seek an update on the building and he was informed by council officials that the topic could not be discussed, but that the council were following ‘ derelict sites legislation’.
Documents received by TheAvondhu regarding the derelict sites list for Fermoy Municipal District noted that the building in question has been on the Derelict Sites Register for 15 years and one month as of December 2020, dating back to November 16, 2005.
TheAvondhu were unable to ascertain who the current owner of the building is.
No. 49 Upper Cork Street, Mitchelstown had been on the register for 13 years, originally being noted in December of 2007.
In light of the recent situation in Mitchelstown, The Avondhu requested information regarding any safety measures being put in place by Cork County Council for the Fermoy building and are awaiting the response to a Freedom of Information request.