Dublin City Council told the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) it was “sheer luck” that nobody was injured when buildings belonging to the federation collapsed onto a public road.
The council said the CIF had shown a “laissez-faire” attitude to managing the property and that it was ironic the “dangerously decaying” building had been hidden behind a banner promoting construction safety.
The correspondence followed the partial collapse of several cottages along Canal Road in Dublin’s city centre in May of this year.
A letter to the CIF said falling bricks from the derelict cottages only narrowly missed a cyclist and a pedestrian who was out walking their dog.
A senior official wrote: “Photographs taken immediately after the collapse show the entire front of the building reduced to rubble, strewn across the footpath and roadway, an entirely preventable situation.”
The letter from Dublin City Council’s assistant chief executive Anthony Flynn said the incident showed a “serious failure in duty of care and property management.”
It also noted that an outstanding debt of €181,650 in derelict site levies should be settled without further delay.
A copy of the correspondence, released under FOI, said: “We trust that the CIF will now treat this matter with the seriousness it demands.”
In response, the director general of the construction group Hubert Fitzpatrick said they fully recognised the gravity of the situation and the “valid concerns” raised.
Mr Fitzpatrick said the CIF also accepted responsibility for the conditions that led to the crumbling of the buildings.
He wrote: “The safety of the public must always be paramount, and we deeply regret the risk posed by the collapse.”
Mr Fitzpatrick said they were “grateful that, fortunately, no one was injured.”
He said the CIF had acted immediately to secure the site and a specialist contractor was hired to make safe the area.
Mr Fitzpatrick wrote: “While the site has been secured and all structures demolished, we acknowledge that the events that preceded this fell below the high standards we expect of our organisation.”