Though it’s only a little over two months since the official opening of the new Civil Defence headquarters in Roscommon, already the new state-of-art facility is proving its considerable worth. 

Claire Keane is the Civil Defence Officer for Roscommon. She says the new facilities have enhanced the supports and services that are undertaken by volunteers: “The summer period is a busy time for Civil Defence due to the many festivals and events that take place across the county.

“Our new facilities ensure our members can avail of our improved training rooms and storage facilities. The extensive office space allows us to conduct our business more professionally and efficiently than ever before.

“Civil Defence is a particularly important part of the services we provide for our citizens, supporting communities, not just at major public events but also working collaboratively with our emergency services in many salvage and rescue operations.

“Our Civic Defence personnel are ordinary people who undertake extraordinary tasks in extraordinary circumstances, supporting a medical emergency, rescue, or recovery operations. Our new facilities allow us to store our vehicles and equipment in a secure space that is accessible and incorporates a large secure training yard and a covered boat storage facility.

“Our new complex also provides for an Appliances Bay for the storage of specialised Civil Defence vehicles, a Covered Garage for the Storage of Rescue boats and trailers, a training yard, parking area and other related facilities,” says Claire.

The new Civil Defence headquarters was built at a cost of €2.5m by Coolsivna Construction Limited supported by Collins Boyd Engineering Limited.  The new building also provides a state-of-the-art administrative and welfare facilities for Civil Defence staff as well as a contained climate-controlled archive facility for Roscommon County Council.

“Our new facilities have been very well received by all our volunteers, who very often volunteerunsocial hours in particularly challenging or even emergency situations. Our new building supports the fine reputation our volunteers have and will, I believe, motivate others to join Civil Defence which is a most rewarding and enriching experience,” says Claire.