What is a firefighter

Have you ever woken up and tried to shake off the cloak of fear that's surrounding you? Ever been home alone and listening to a chimney fire scream down the walls? Ever answered a phonecall to cries of someone you love trapped in a car that's crashed? Ever just waited for help to arrive with loud prayers in case help doesn't show up?

The answer to all of those scenarios and so many more shows itself in the form of a firefighter. You know them, some of them, even one of them. You don't always notice them until you need them, but suddenly they're there and they're your uniformed saviour, there to support and save and comfort.

Firefighters don't just fight visible flames that destroy people and places.....

They fight our fear, our hurt. They guide us when they road is blocked, when a tree falls, when an animal traps itself and we dont know what to do. They speak softly and strongly to us while laying the groundwork to make sure we feel safe. We face grief with them beside us for comfort. When we arrive to pay our condolences to a friend or neighbour, they are there, standing in unison, with a nod, a friendly smile and a hope that we will get through whatever pain is pulling us down.

Yet someone has decided they won't pay them for their job and yet somehow we can never repay them for their kindness. Someone sits in a comfortable office on a fat salary and assume that these men and women don't deserve a fair wage for their hard work, their tears, their feelings, their time and most of all their sacrifice to allow us to live freely and safely knowing they will be there to answer our call. The call that comes everyday somewhere in this little country, when someone desperately needs them to save them.

Everyone, at some point in their life will connect with a firefighter, whether its because you need one or you're watching someone you love needing one and that interaction is priceless

Priceless, but you've decided you know what it costs.

The choice to pay these men and women a fair wage is a simple choice, a mark of a pen on a piece of paper. A mark of respect to firefighters we need and admire.

And don't for a second assume you speak for us, the people of Ireland who need our firefighters to be able to show up for us while feeling worthy.

Pay them what they are worth.....

Valerie Masters