City centre building found in near state of collapse

Emergency works had to be carried out on a building on Eglinton Street after it was found to be held up by old railway irons and pieces of timber.

It was also found there was no fire proofing between the commercial unit and Imperial Hotel bedrooms overhead, which would allow a fire travel through the building “in minutes”.

Consulting Engineer Cyril Kelly told Galway City Council propping jacks were put in place at No 18, a former bakery, as it was liable to collapse at any time.

He said that in his 25 years of practice as an engineer, he had never encountered anything like it.

The owners of the building, Foxfield Inns Ltd – operated by the Flannery hotelier family – had sought permission for a change of use of the ground floor commercial unit from a bakery to a restaurant.

In the application, Mr Kelly said the condition of the building was uncovered after the bakery fit-out was removed.

“The structure was being supported using steels which were actually old railway irons and these were wedged in place.

“Firstly, this type of steel was not designed for this purpose, it should not be subjected to these types of loading and the use of these alone would render the building liable to detrimental failure or collapse.

“Secondly, and unbelievably, these steels were wedged into place with pieces of timber. It goes without saying that was a real and extremely serious health and safety risk and left sections of the building quite literally liable to collapse at any time. In my 25 years as a practicing engineer, I have never encountered anything like this.

“Immediate and urgent action was required in this case to secure the structure, with temporary propping jacks immediately installed and all railway steels and timber props requiring immediate removal and replacement. It is now our intention to fire-proof the ceiling to give a one-hour rating once all steel is in place.”
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