A minute of silence was held in the Dáil today ahead of Budget 2016 for the victims of the Carrickmines fire in Dublin on Saturday in which 10 people died and for the murder of Garda Anthony Golden in Louth on Sunday.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny offered his condolences to the relatives and friends of those who lost their lives in the two separate events describing them as 'equally tragic'.
Mr Kenny said he could speak for all in the House in expressing shock at the deaths following the fire and the fatal shooting of an on duty garda.
10 people, including five children and a woman who was four months pregnant, died and two others were injured, as a result of the blaze at the site in Carrickmines in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The Taoiseach named members of the Connors and Lynch families who died in the blaze.
He said they are possessors of a life lived and unlived with all their joys and sorrows, birthdays uncelebrated, children unborn.
He said he visited the scene of the fire on Sunday and he said the smell of corrosive smoke at the scene would live with him forever.
He extended his sympathies to the Lynch and Connors family for their 'tragic loss'.
He also remembered the two children injured in the fire.
The Taoiseach named members of the Connors and Lynch families who died in the blaze.
He said they are possessors of a life lived and unlived with all their joys and sorrows, birthdays uncelebrated, children unborn.
He said he visited the scene of the fire on Sunday and he said the smell of corrosive smoke at the scene would live with him forever.
He extended his sympathies to the Lynch and Connors family for their 'tragic loss'.
He also remembered the two children injured in the fire.
Taoiseach pays tribute to the late Garda Anthony Golden and the 10 people who died in a Dublin fire at the weekend https://t.co/pH46xB4DRq
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) October 13, 2015
Tánaiste Joan Burton also addressed the Dáil saying "we grieve with the members of the Travelling for the loss that the whole community has suffered".
She said in a halting site in south Dublin the loss of life was on a scale not witnessed before.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said people across the island of Ireland are truly numb by this inferno.
He said the pictures have been poignant and illustrate the enormity of the lives lost.
He said it is important that we all reflect on the scale of the lives lost, particularly the number of children.
He said he understood it was the largest death toll since 1981.
Meanwhile the Director of the Irish Traveller Movement has welcomed the Department of Environment's decision to have local authorities conduct a nationwide safety audit of halting sites.
The department has confirmed that a decision was taken yesterday, following a meeting with the Southside Travellers Action Group, that all local authorities would be asked to carry out an assessment of all halting sites nationwide for risk management and to identify potential hazards.
Irish Traveller Movement director Brigid Quilligan told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that the organisation has been calling for such a move for some time.
Ms Quilligan said she would like to see an independent expert carry out the audits.
Contributions open for victims of Carrickmines fire
The Society of St Vincent de Paul has said that the public can contribute electronically or by post to a fund to help the families affected by the Carrickmines fire disaster.
Online donations can be made by visiting www.svp.ie.
Cheques, made payable to 'SVP Carrickmines Tragedy', can be sent to Finance Dept, SVP East Region, 91-92 Sean McDermott Street, Dublin 1.
Also payments can be made directly to the SVP fund's AIB account:
Account number: 16005289
N Sorting Code: 93-31-20
BIC: AIBKIE2D
IBAN: IE38AIBK93312016005289.
