The jury at the inquest into the deaths of a father and son who died in a fire at an apartment building in Sligo, where the fire alarm had been turned off for a number of years, has returned a verdict of accidental death.
The jury recommended that robust measures need to be put in place to ensure that property owners and managers comply with all fire safety legislation and regulations.
Christopher 'Sunny' Harte, aged 63, and his 34-year-old son Sean died in the fire at 25 Market Street in the early hours of 22 April 2017.
The three-day inquest had heard that the fire alarm in the building had been turned off for a considerable amount of time, there were no fire extinguishers, and all alternative means of escape were insufficient.
Coroner Eamon McGowan said that the block of five apartments was "really shambolic as regards fire protection - there was no protection there".
Mr McGowan said that this was a terrible time for the family especially in the circumstances, adding that "if there was a fire alarm in the property they would not have died - there's no doubt about that."
Post-mortem reports said that Sean Harte was a healthy young man who died as a result of inhalation of fire and smoke gases, and that toxic levels of alcohol may have expedited his death. The medical reports stated there was evidence of recent use of cocaine by Sean Harte and by his father, who was described as an extremely healthy man for his age, who also died due to inhalation of fire and smoke gases.
Shelley Harte, daughter of Christopher and sister of Sean, told the inquest that since their deaths the family has tried to keep going but "a hole has been left by their absence".
She said they were "such characters and had everyone laughing, everyone knew them for their outgoing nature."
Another family member who spoke from the public gallery, said that there was "a whole pile of failures", that they wanted answers, and that people take responsibility so that something like this does not happen again.
The Acting Chief Fire Officer had confirmed to the coroner's court that a decision had been taken by the Director of Public Prosecutions not to pursue a case.
Gerry O'Malley also said that: "As Henry Auctioneers maintain they have no management responsibility for the premises and every attempt to communicate with the property owner directly and through their solicitors have failed, there are no records available to the fire authority to demonstrate that fire safety was being managed in the building."
The inquest had been told by another tenant in the building that Sligo County Council had carried out an inspection and issued an improvement notice in relation to his apartment, but James Mahon said the council had not followed up on the issues concerned which were the lack of an emergency evacuation plan and the absence of a fire blanket.
The jury recommended that in relation to fire safety regulations compliance in multi-occupational properties local authority reports should include input from a suitably qualified fire safety officer.
"This would require local authorities to develop formal arrangements for housing and fire services to share information and agree on a protocol for ensuring compliance with all fire safety regulations."
