Temple Bar pub and hospital kitchens closed after cockroaches, rodents found

The discovery of a cockroach infestation led to a closure order being served on a well-known restaurant in Dublin's Temple Bar last month while two kitchenette areas at a hospital in Navan were also closed after evidence of rodents was found.

The Quays at 10-12 Temple Bar Square was shut for eight days in January following an inspection by the Food Standards Authority of Ireland (FSAI), which uncovered an “active cockroach infestation at all stages of the life cycle”.

The authority said “live and dead cockroaches were noted” in a cockroach trap under the cooker area, and dead cockroaches were found in an area under the coffee dock and in the staff changing area.

“The above conditions lead to a serious risk of food being contaminated with pathogen bacteria likely to render the food unfit for human consumption, injurious to health or contaminated in such a way that would be unreasonable to expect it to be consumed in that state,” concluded the inspector.

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The partial closure order was enforced from January 8th to January 16th. The restaurant has since reopened.

A closure order was also placed on two kitchenette areasat Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan after evidence of rodents were found. The closure orders were served on the kitchenette area of the medical assessment unit and the kitchenette area of a female medical ward on January 2nd and it was lifted on January 5th.

Inspectors found rodent droppings behind kitchen equipment in the medical assessment unit on January 2nd and there was evidence of inadequate pest proofing of external drains of unit. A report from the hospital’s pest control company on December 31st stated that a small rodent had been found dead in the kitchen of the medical assessment unit.

A report from the pest control company on January 2nd also stated a mouse had been caught on a trap in the kitchenette area of the female medical ward.

“The presence of rodents in the kitchenette of the medical assessment unit and kitchenette of the female medical ward poses a risk of contamination of food with pathogenic bacteria and foreign matter resulting in an unacceptable risk to consumer safety,” noted the inspector.

Second closure order

A closure order was also served in December on the male medical ward kitchen at the same hospital after a dead rodent was found trapped underneath a sink unit and fresh rodent droppings were found in a press.

The FSAI stated that nine closure orders and one prohibition order were served on food businesses during the month of January for breaches of food safety legislation.

Among the issues discovered was chicken being stored in a bowl sitting directly on top of a saucepan filled with cooked rice and next to ready-to-eat salad items; food storage containers dirty with evidence of black mould; and cases of staff hygiene practices posing a risk to food safety, the authority said.

Five closure orders were served under the FSAI Act, 1998 on:

• Sabore Nordetino Dublin (Restaurant/Cafe), Moore Street Mall, 58-66 Parnell Street, Dublin 1
• Indias Taste (takeaway), Bridgewater Hall, 17-19 Summerhill Parade, Dublin 1
• King's Chinese takeaway, Main Street, Daingean, Co Offaly
• Orient Express (takeaway), Main Street, Bruree, Limerick
• The Quays Restaurant, 10-12 Temple Bar Square, Temple Bar, Dublin 2

Four closure orders were served under the EC (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 2010 on:

• Sushida (takeaway), closed activity: the storage, handling and preparation of sandwiches and sandwich fillings (including but not limited to preparing sandwiches, wraps, filled baguettes and other similar items and the slicing of cooked meats and cheeses), Unit 1, Malpas Court, 116-117 Clanbrassil Street Lower, Dublin 8
• Hokkaido (restaurant/cafe) closed activity: the preparation, storage and sale of sushi and associated products, 15 Main Street, Celbridge, Co Kildare
• Big Bite (takeaway), Main Street, Dunshaughlin, Co Meath
• Our Lady's Hospital, closed area: kitchenette Medical Assessment Unit and kitchenette female medical ward), Athboy Road, Navan, Co Meath

One prohibition order was served under the EC (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 2010 on:

• Miss Fit Enterprises Limited, Unit 14, Block P, Greenogue Business Park, Rathcoole, Co Dublin