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Offaly shop had human waste overflowing from manhole
🇮🇪 Ireland /Crime & Justice

Offaly shop had human waste overflowing from manhole

From RTÉ News · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Official statement Context piece
  • A shop and takeaway in Mountbolus, County Offaly, was issued a closure order by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) due to human waste overflowing from a manhole.
  • The waste contaminated food contact equipment adjacent to food preparation areas, posing a grave risk to public health.
  • Other businesses, including restaurants in Dublin and Tipperary, also received closure orders for issues like cockroach infestations and rodent presence.

A shop and takeaway in Mountbolus, County Offaly, has been shut down by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) after inspectors found human waste overflowing from a manhole in a staff toilet. The waste was spilling into a room used for storing food contact equipment, located next to a food preparation area.

direct opportunity for pathogenic bacteria likely present in human waste to contaminate food or food preparation areas, rendering it unsafe

— FSAI InspectorsDescribing the risk posed by the human waste contamination at the Village Shop & Takeaway.

Inspectors from the FSAI stated that these conditions created a "direct opportunity for pathogenic bacteria likely present in human waste to contaminate food or food preparation areas, rendering it unsafe." They emphasized that this posed a "grave and immediate risk to public health."

In Dublin, Diwali Restaurant on South Great Georges Street was also issued a closure order due to a significant cockroach infestation throughout its kitchen preparation areas. Inspectors observed cockroaches at all life stages, along with numerous dead specimens.

grave and immediate risk to public health

— FSAI InspectorsFurther emphasizing the severity of the contamination found at the Offaly shop.

At Babylon Restaurant in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, a dead rodent was discovered behind equipment near food products in an upstairs production kitchen. Rodent droppings were also found under a disused dishwasher in the same area. Additionally, a mobile food unit named Canteen Street Food in Parslickstown, Dublin 15, was cited for lacking the means to perform effective cleaning, resulting in dirty surfaces and equipment due to a lack of water supply.

deeply concerning

— Greg DempseyCommenting on the overall issues identified in the closure orders.

FSAI Chief Executive Greg Dempsey described the identified issues as "deeply concerning" and indicative of "serious failures" in basic food safety controls. He stressed that essential requirements like cleaning, pest control, safe food handling, staff training, and food safety management systems are legal obligations, not optional measures. Dempsey affirmed that enforcement action would continue against businesses failing to meet these fundamental standards, especially when public health is at risk.

serious failures

— Greg DempseyCharacterizing the lapses in basic food safety controls observed by the FSAI.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by RTÉ News. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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