Expert to Investigate Bray Fire-Fighters Deaths

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Expert to Investigate Bray Fire-Fighters Deaths

Tuesday, December 4 2007

The gardai, Health and Safety Authority and Wicklow County Council are separately investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Brian Murray (46), Mark O'Shaughnessy (26) in Bray on September 26, 2007. Mary Murray said that she was in the process of getting a US expert to travel to Ireland to conduct a separate investigation because she believes that the terms of reference of the county council probe do not go far enough.

"Brian Murray is no longer here to prop up this failing system," she said. "I will not allow his death to go down as an accident."

"They think we'll go away after this, but we won't," she said. "The inquiry they have lined up is rubbish. I'm bringing a fire marshall in from America to do an inquiry. I'll fund it myself.''

The family of Mr Murray have claimed that five emergency calls were made before a fire crew were dispatched to the fire in Bray. They have also questioned why only one crew was sent and why a second wasn't sent for another 25 minutes.

Councillor Nicky Kelly also questioned whether the limited terms of the council's investigation constituted a "whitewash".

Mr O'Shaughnessy's girlfriend, Hazel O'Brien, criticised the process of vetting calls which has seen a person in a command centre make a judgement call on whether or not to send out a fire crew.

"A Bray fire-fighter complained to me for months about this system, how angry it made him, how frustrating it was to have others dice with people's lives, while he lived to protect them," she told the members of the county council.

"If he could be here today he could tell you himself how dangerous call vetting is. He cannot. He is dead."

Both families are fighting to have a full-time service in Bray and for the introduction of a national fire authority. They were supported yesterday by residents of the Oldcourt estate where eight people have died as a result of fires in recent years.

Wicklow county manager Eddie Sheehy said that he was confident that the three ongoing inquiries would cover all the issues raised, and argued that the vetting system was working. He also said that the fire service in Wicklow would be expanded "if the funding is provided".

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