Serious safety issues revealed by audit at Pairc Tailteann

A report on Pairc Tailteann in Navan has highlighted a raft of public safety issues at the stadium, including fire, crowd and planning concerns. The draft report of the GAA Safety Audit, which has been seen by the Meath Chronicle, was carried out at the ground on 15th October last by Dublin consultancy firm Michael Slattery & Associates, a fire safety engineering firm. Among its many criticisms of the ground's main stand were "a dressing toom with untreated plywood ceiling and radiant gas heaters that pose a potential fire hazard" and a "machinery shed with adjacent files stores (which) contains significant fire risks with unprotected steel beams supporting the stand overhead". This poses a significant risk of structural collapse of the stand in the event of a fire in this area or in any of the accommodation areas under the stand. County GAA Secretary Cyril Creavin said the county board "cannot be critical of safety concerns raised" and said that it is already acting on rectifying matters at the county GAA ground. He said: "The County Board has done up a response regarding various aspects of the report. Regarding structure, we have had a report done up from a structural engineer on the stand that says the steel there is adequate and also capable of taking the new roof, which is long-term. It's for the future but it's doable. There's no question of closing off the stand, though. "I was initially disappointed that our capacity was reduced by so much. Regarding safety, though, it is up to ourselves to rectify these matters. There are various complaints in the report but nobody is denying them," he added. Pairc Tailteann's former capacity was 26,000, a figure that has now been reduced to 10,500. "In the short term, the goal is to address safety concerns and get the capacity back up before the start of the National League and then address the long-term concerns," said Mr Creavin. "The materials causing fire concerns under the stand have been removed and we are addressing the circulation capacity by the removal of a few rows of seating so people can move around easier." The report was part of a review by GAA headquarters of all stadia across the 26 counties, which also recommended that the two grass banks at either end of the ground be closed until made safe and that the terraced area be reduced due to inadequate crush barriers. "Another issue is with the grass banks, we're no longer allowed to use them, so they will have to be concreted over but that's not in the immediate future. "It's not a mad panic because 10,500 is adequate for the National League in February where we have an attractive fixture against Monaghan. Some 6,000-8,000 might be attending," he said. The report was also critical of the new meeting rooms, called 'Aras Tailteann', for which no fire safety or planning certificates were supplied and is described as a "single storey temporary structure". The Aras, the report says, "has a range of serious fire safety deficiencies and is evidently not in compliance with Part B (Fire Safety)...it has an extremely long, dead end corridor not provided with fire resisting separation" and it adds that "there is no alternative exit from the large meeting room". It also had a "fire alarm panel that indicated a no power signal" that needed to be addressed as a "matter of urgency". Mr Creavin said that, when inspectors arrived, the building was only under construction and was a "work in progress at the time" but found its way into the audit. "All the issues are being addressed, even though it is still a work in progress. We are awaiting both fire and planning (certs) and we aim to address all the issues at the annual convention on 10th or 11th December," he added.