Majority of people appalled by Crooksling fire
“I’m appalled by the events unfolding at Crooksling Nursing Home,” Mayor Alan Edge of South Dublin County Council told The Echo this afternoon.
Four Dublin Fire Brigade pumps remain at the scene at the former St Brigid’s Nursing Home this evening along with a water tank and senior officers following the blaze this morning.
Dublin Fire Brigade say they have scaled back the response to the fire which started at 7am this morning and are dampening hot spots.
As reported in The Echo over the past two weeks, there had been protests outside the former nursing home amid speculation that the building was to accommodate migrants.
“We don’t yet know the cause but if it proves to be arson, as appears likely, then I think the vast majority of people in the County, who are decent, law-abiding people, will deplore that action,’’ said Mayor Alan Edge.
“A huge thanks goes out to our firefighters. If the blaze was deliberate, those who started it have endangered the lives of our emergency service personnel.
“I hope the Gardaí in their investigation will be given the fullest co-operation by everyone. If it proves to be arson, the culprits need to be prosecuted with the full force of the law.
“Above all, to those migrants living in the County, many of whom I’m privileged to know and have had the opportunity to see the real, positive impact they have had in our communities, you are welcome here. What has no place here is racist hatred and arson’.
‘The majority of people in Brittas are appalled by what has happened. Many have spoken to me to express that the sentiments expressed by the protestors are not expressed in the name of the people of Brittas, which is a wonderful community’.
Meanwhile local Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has said that the string of arson attacks against properties earmarked for accommodation of refugees or asylum seekers must stop and that the perpetrators do not have the support of the Irish people.
Teachta Crowe was speaking after the latest such incident, this occurring at the former St Brigid’s nursing home in Brittas on Sunday morning.
Teachta Crowe said: “The burning of St Brigid’s, a former nursing home in Brittas, Co Dublin, is just another in a series of arson attacks on sites earmarked as possible accommodation for refugees and asylum seekers.
“These attacks are a pattern dating back nearly six years now and have only intensified in the past 12 months.
“I had spoken to Minister Joe O’Brien about this site only last week and highlighted the threat of arson given the attacks we have seen right across the state.
“These attacks cannot be allowed to go on with impunity.
“It is only a matter of time until someone is caught in the blaze or a firefighter is injured or worse battling the fire. There must be consequences to this dangerous and extreme anti-social behaviour.
“People who go out and set fire to these buildings do not represent the Irish people and if they believe that, they are only fooling themselves. These attacks must stop, the perpetrators must be apprehended, and no more lives should be put at risk.”
“Anyone with information about this attack should go to the gardaí.”
