Rail Bridge Failure In Focus

Ireland could have easily been mourning its worst rail disaster last month when the cross-border Dublin-Belfast rail line fell into the sea near Malahide last month.

This week, senior Irish Rail executives stand accused of playing with thousands of people's lives by not closing the busy rail line when safety concerns were raised five days prior to its collapse.

Labour Party Transport Spokesman Tommy Broughan told the Oireachtas Transport Committee that countless lives could have been lost when the bridge failed.

It has already been revealed that a member of the public - a Sea Scout leader - had flagged up concerns about one of the piers supporting the bridge to Irish Rail less than a week before the collapse.

"We could have been attending funerals for weeks. This could have been one of the most horrendous events in the history of our country," Mr Broughan said.

But Iarnród Éireann's boss, Richard Fearn said the complaint was taken seriously and a structural engineer was sent to examine the scene.

The Chief Executive said: "We did not take a chance, we reacted properly and professionally and when we got further information that there were no immediate risk but there were issues that needed to be looked at we sent a structural engineer to do an assessment."

He also said a special train checked the line just the day before the collapse but detected no structural problems.

He also admitted that the structural engineer responding to Mr Barrett's call did not go out on a boat to look at the pier in detail.

The collapse of the viaduct, which carried more than 90 trains a day, into the Broadmeadow estuary occurred on August 21st.

But on the previous Monday the Malahide scout leader contacted Irish rail over possible damage to one of the viaduct's piers, having seen the risk from the canoe he was in along with his scouts.

Ivan Barratt - who takes scouts canoeing two to three times a week around the Broadmeadow Estuary Rail viaduct - said he had noticed serious erosion on the structure on 14 August and phoned to warn Iarnród Éireann - but the company said an inspection found the damage was cosmetic, rather than structural.

"I think if it was a case of getting into a boat of some sort and going out to inspect the arch itself - and it would need to have been when the tide was at the correct height - then it would have been quite evident that there was a problem," he said.

"For somebody without any engineering qualifications it was evident there was a problem, (so) I'm quite sure a qualified engineer inspecting should have recognised straight off," the scout boss said, noting that swift action could have prevented the collapse.

In response, the rail boss admitted that their engineer did not use a boat, as it was low tide.

Mr Fearn said: "He took a number of vantage points where he could see what was being raised. We now know of course that he couldn't see the issues which were arising."

See: Iarnród Éireann 'Aware Of Bridge Erosion'

(BMcC/GK)