Schools fire safety concerns highlighted two years ago

RTÉ and other news outlets have been reporting on in recent days on breaches of fire safety standards at five primary schools, including Educate Together NS in Mullingar (https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0901/901647-schools-fire-safety/).

The Westmeath Examiner first highlighted concerns about the local school in October 2015.

At the time our October 17 edition carried the story on the front page: the headline was ‘Mullingar school to be inspected over fire safety concerns’.

The story included a statement from the Dept of Education, which read: “Following on from the identification of a number of building regulation issues in a building constructed in 2008, the department intends to carry out a technical assessment, as a precaution, on the Educate Together National School, Mullingar, which was similarly constructed in 2008.

“The department is currently arranging for a technical visit by its professional and technical staff to the school and will keep Educate Together School, Mullingar, fully informed throughout the process.”