People are raging about the cost of restoring Cork’s historic Fireman’s Rest
Yikes.
The final tally of costs associated with restoring the Fireman’s Rest, a little piece of Cork’s history that once sat behind the Fr Matthew statue, is in and it’s a spicy figure.
96FM’s Opinion Line producer Paul Byrne started digging for exact figures last year and was surprised when the estimates started coming in close to €200,000. The final cost, it turns out, is an eye-watering €326,550.
An iconic part of Cork’s streetscape, the hut was removed during the St Patrick’s Street refurbishment project and improperly stored in Fitzgerald’s Park, where it was badly damaged.
But the 120-year-old structure is now installed in a smart new spot outside Cork City Fire Brigade’s headquarters on Anglesea Street after it was carefully restored.
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“It is, and the price, again, €326,550 for a hut to refurbish it, to put it back together, to put a few nails, belt a few nails into it, and to give it a lick of paint. It’s very, very big money.” Paul Byrne told PJ Coogan on The Opinion Line.
“The taxpayer is picking up the bill for that. So just because Dublin had a security hut at a cost of €1.4m outside the Department of
Defence, a bike shed to house 36 bikes up in Leinster House cost, I think, €350,000.
“But here in Cork, we’ve got the beautiful fireman’s hut, also known as the busman’s hut, at a cost of €326,550. An astronomical amount of money when lots and lots of people will say it could have been better spent.
“We must preserve our history,” added Byrne. “…but it comes at a cost.
The final restoration cost had callers spitting feathers.
“When I just think about what €300,000 could achieve for the people of Cork City.” said Cllr Ken O’Flynn.
“I’m talking about people that are waiting for stairlifts, that are waiting for conversions, additional bathrooms, walk-in showers, elderly people, people that are waiting on the housing list. How many houses would that have brought back into the housing stock when the average is about €30,000 to €40,000 to bring a house up to date and bring it back into the housing stock?”
Cllr Peter Hogan accepted the structure was an important part of the city’s history but described the bill as “absolutely insane”.
