Politics

Explainer: why are the country’s retained fire fighters going on strike?

The dispute is the culmination of years of unrest about pay and conditions for the country’s 2,000 part-time firefighters

Retained fire fighters have to be on call for 24 hours a day when they are rostered on duty. Picture: Getty

What do retained firefighters do?

There are two different types of firefighters in the country – full time firefighters and part-time firefighters. The 1,000 full time firefighters are largely based in three cities - Dublin, Cork city and Galway city.

Fire services in the rest of the country are provided by 2,000 part-time firefighters, known as retained firefighters. They usually have other jobs but are constantly available for call-outs. They are based in around 200 ...