McKillop: Cushendall Fire Station delays are a disgrace

The councillor was responding to an answer to a written question tabled by her assembly colleague John Dallat who was told that a business case won’t be completed until capital funding is identified.

She said: “I would have thought that the intelligent way forward is to prepare a business case and make a bid for capital funding for the project and not the other way round. This surely is the classic case of ‘Eat horse and you will get grass’!

“The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service had no difficulty going on a spending spree to purchase new “Landrovers and boats which are no more than a duplication of equipment already available from other voluntary organisations involved in rescue yet they lack the commitment to make a case for a new fire station in Cushendall which is a primary responsibility of the organisation.

“The response given to my colleague John Dallat is disgraceful and a slight on the people of the Glens who have waited for many years for a new fire station fit for purpose.

“I am now asking for an urgent meeting with the Chief Executive of NIFRS so that we can have a full and frank exchange about the way forward.

“I also intend writing to the members of the Board of NIFRS to find out what they have been doing to secure a new fire station for the Glens and I will be seeking an assurance that they have not been sitting on their hands while the senior management has been on a spending spree while the fire fighters based in Cushendall have been working out of substandard premises.”