Blowouts at Irish Cement spark calls for action

Following a recent early morning blowout at Irish Cement, a subsidiary of CRH Plc, that left local residents waking to cars and property coated in white dust, calls have been made for action from the Council. 

At this month’s Metropolitan area meeting, Social Democrats councillor Elisa O’Donovan proposed the immediate establishment of a community liaison committee for the Mungret, Raheen, and Dooradoyle areas, as required by the site’s planning conditions. 

Labour Party councillor Joe Leddin seconded the motion, stressing the need for open communication between Irish Cement and the Council. He expressed frustration that councillors had not been informed of such incidents. 

“There has been a lot of concern in recent years in terms of emissions from Irish Cement. As councillors, we are getting calls whenever there is an incident, and people wake up in the morning to find white dust all over their car and property,” Cllr Leddin said. The Labour councillor added that he had received “multiple calls recently from residents in the greater Mungret area who came out to find their cars covered in white particles.”

“We’re the first port of call for most people when there’s an issue, but if we’re being kept in the dark, there’s obviously a breakdown in communication when there’s an incident,” he stated.

Fine Gael councillor Daniel Butler noted that he was alerted to the latest blowout and had informed the Council. However, he clarified that it is primarily the responsibility of Irish Cement and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to record such events.

“The EPA investigated it. I think Irish Cement has acknowledged that there was an incident … when a truck was being loaded with cement. The pipe that connects with the truck somehow became dislodged, and then there was quite a significant amount of dust covering the immediate area,” he explained. 

The Council confirmed that it is in the process of forming the community liaison committee, which will be operational by the end of the year.