Breaking: Kilkenny Fire Station not responding to 999 calls due to strike action

Kilkenny City Fire Station is closed today due to strike action and will not respond to 999 calls.

A document circulated to businesses in the city stated that 'the nearest Fire Station that will respond to any fire or emergency at your premises will be approximately 30 minutes away' and advised that 'the impacts on existing insurance cover, if any, should be considered due to the unavoidable increase in Fire Service response times on the above dates'.

The escalation in strike action will result in Kilkenny City Fire Station also closing for 24 hours from 8am on August 14 until  8am on August 15, from 8am on August 16 to 8am on August 17,  from 8am on August 18 to 8am on August 19, from 8am on August 20 to 8am on August 21 and for 48 hours from August 24 to 8am on August 26.

Three drug driving arrests in Kilkenny over bank holiday weekend

The statement issued to Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce also states that 'Kilkenny County Council is responsible for providing Fire and Rescue services to your business' and adds that if local businesses  are unhappy with this situation they should contact info@kilkennycoco.ie and mark your email for the attention of the Chief Fire Officer.

The seven fire stations across the city and county will also be closed on certain dates over the coming weeks due to the strike action. Retained fire fighters across the country are seeking better terms and conditions and commenced industrial action in June.

Stations across the country will 'go dark' from Saturday, meaning that while retained stations will continue to attend emergencies they will have have zero communications with fire service management or regional control centres.