Iarnród Éireann will bill the owners of a crane that partially collapsed near train tracks in Ringsend, Dublin at the weekend, for the loss of more than €150,000 in ticket revenue. Kitty Holland and Dominic Coyle report
Mr Barry Kenny, spokesman for Iarnród Éireann, said yesterday the cancellation of some DART services, as well as commuter services from Kildare, Louth, Meath, Wicklow and Wexford, over a three-day period had cost the company "at least €150,000" and added that Danniger Ltd, the company that owns both the Ringsend building site and the crane, "would be getting a bill".
Danniger is run by one of the State's most controversial builders, Mr Liam Carroll. Mr Carroll is better known for its sister company, Zoe Developments, which was at the forefront of the apartment building blitz in Dublin in the 1990s. Danniger is owned by Vantive Holdings (Mr Carroll and his wife Roisin) and by a Jersey company, Stradbally Investment Company.
After persistent breaches of safety regulations and the death of a worker on a Zoe site, a High Court judge told Mr Carroll in 1997 that Zoe was "a criminal, and a recidivist criminal at that, and is so thanks to you". The company had been taken to court by the National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health which successfully sought an injunction to stop work on a company site until safety measures were put in place.
The crane's partial collapse severely curtailed train services on the southside of the city from Sunday morning. The crane partially collapsed in the Barrow Street area, leaving a large section swinging in high winds. It forced the evacuation of 60 nearby houses though a degree of normality returned yesterday morning when the structure was stabilised.
Mr Damien Reville, a spokesman for Danniger Ltd, said up to 40 technicians had been working on dismantling the crane and that at 4 a.m. yesterday morning removal of the ballast, which included a nine-tonne counter balance, had been achieved.
"This increases the stability of the crane by multiples, I'm told. The lifting of the Health and Safety Authority evacuation order is testament to this," he said. The authority confirmed this decision. Following a meeting with residents from Emerald Cottages and Barrow Street yesterday morning they were able to re- turn to their homes at about 9 a.m. They had been ac- commodated in the nearby Mespil Hotel since Sunday.
Danniger Ltd contacted Iarnród Éireann at 5 a.m. yesterday and trains resumed normal services. Mr Reville said the crane had now been rigged and would be fully dismantled over the coming days.