Coolock Village's Water Pressure Problem Is a Fire Safety Risk
By Coolock Village Regeneration Project
By Coolock Village Regeneration Project
Chanel Manor is a new 6-storey apartment complex in the heart of Coolock Village. 87 families are beginning to move in. (Original planning reference)
One question needs answering before anyone collects their keys: if a fire breaks out on the top floor, is there enough water pressure to fight it?
45 years of evidence says otherwise.
Water pressure in Coolock Village and the surrounding areas was first raised in Dail Eireann in February 1981, days after the Stardust disaster. TDs flagged "the adequacy or otherwise of the water pressure in that area of Dublin" for urgent investigation.
That was 45 years ago. Nothing was fixed. The consequences have been real:
Firefighters could not get enough water from the mains. A hydrant near the school was blocked with concrete. Tankers were brought in. Hundreds of children lost their school. This happened less than 500 metres from where Chanel Manor now stands.
Read more: Irish Times | Dublin Live | Newstalk | Irish Examiner
This is not just about pipes. It is about accountability.
Uisce Eireann will not guarantee fire flow on their network. In official correspondence submitted to An Bord Pleanala, they state plainly: they "cannot guarantee a flow rate to meet fire flow requirements."
Their Code of Practice puts the responsibility for fire flow on the developer.
Irish Water connects your building to the water supply. If a fire breaks out and the mains cannot deliver enough pressure, their documented position is not our problem. The developer is supposed to sort it. Once the developer hands the building over, who is checking?
Nobody has publicly confirmed that Chanel Manor can be adequately protected in a fire.
The 87 new families moving in deserve a straight answer. So does everyone else in Coolock Village and the surrounding areas on the same water network.
We are calling on Dublin City Council, Dublin Fire Brigade, and RESPOND to publicly confirm that Chanel Manor has adequate, fully tested on-site water storage and booster pumps capable of fighting a fire at any level of the building.
RESPOND manages the units (confirmed at the DCC Monthly Meeting on 7 July 2025). The Coolock Village Forum and the Coolock Residents Association have been pushing for answers behind the scenes. This article is based on their work.
The Coolock Residents Association (CRA) has been the established residents' group in Coolock Village for years. When Chanel Manor was first announced, the CRA attempted to work through the security concerns directly with An Garda Siochana.
That process led to the creation of the Coolock Village Forum, a more focused working group concentrated on infrastructure, planning, and direct engagement with public bodies. The Forum has done the groundwork on Chanel Manor ever since, though broader CRA engagement dropped off after the original CCTV agreement was reached.
CCTV was not originally planned for Chanel Manor. The Forum pushed DCC, RESPOND, and An Garda Siochana until CCTV was added.
CCTV will be installed. Gardai are understood to have direct access to the footage, key-fob access to the site, and access to the underground car park. That is a significant result before a single family has moved in.
Now the Forum needs the same transparency on fire safety.
The original Chanel Manor application was appealed to An Bord Pleanala and spent two years in limbo before being approved in 2024.
The developer is now seeking a further modification to remove the only planned commercial unit from the site, converting what was supposed to be a mixed-use development into a fully residential block. That is a separate fight, but it matters here: more residents, same water network.
Whether you are a resident, or you represent Chanel College, Pobal Parnell, a local business, or any community group, we want to hear from you.
This is Coolock Village. We look after our own.
Planning references: ABP-305367-19 (original) | ABP-314313-22 (appeal) | Modification 4108/21 (current)