Address Confusion results in Fire brigade going to the wrong place...The Irish Times yesterday reported that an error occured in December 2006 that resulted in the fire services in Kilkenny being sent to the wrong place to put out a fire. The root of the error was that there are two townlands in Kilkenny with the same name (Keatingstown). The fire was in Keatingstown "A" (Keatingstown, Mullinavat) while the fire engines were sent to Keatingstown "B" (Keatingstown Troyswood). Luckily there were no deaths. The article details a number of possible root causes, but this story eerily echoes another story we spotted last year where an ambulance was sent to the wrong address... Unusually, a politician has presented a sound assessment of the root cause, Fine Gael Senator John Paul Phelan is quoted as saying "You need local knowledge to get the fire services into rural areas where umpteen townlands have the same name". This is a very clear argument in favour of proper address data management in Ireland and a move to a properly thought out and properly implemented post code system. The fact that Senator Phelan goes on to complain that post to his address "gets mixed up all the time" because there are multiple townlands in Kilkenny that share the name of the one he lives in is a further indication that the lack of proper address data structures in Ireland is a problem. One can only wonder if a review of the Electoral Register issues might also reveal that the lack of a properly managed and defined post code and address structures might have lead to opportunities for duplicate or erroneous registrations?
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