Grenfell: Michael Gove says Kingspan gives capitalism a bad name

Michael Gove says Kingspan still "has a responsibility to make good" after the Grenfell tragedy

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has said he "has had enough" of Cavan-based insulation company Kingspan "trying to wriggle out of their responsibilities".

During the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire, Kingspan's business practices were criticised.

"This is a company that gives capitalism a bad name," Mr Gove told BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

Kingspan said it had engaged with both Mr Gove's team and "in all remediation enquiries received to date".

On Wednesday Ulster Rugby announced its association with the firm would end by June 2025.

Seventy-two people died in a fire at Grenfell Tower in west London in 2017.

For 14 years Kingspan's insulation was sold for use on high-rise buildings - including Grenfell - without a relevant large-scale fire test.

Its insulation passed a test in 2005 but Kingspan changed the product a year later. Subsequent tests turned into a "raging inferno". Kingspan continued to sell its insulation using the 2005 test on the old material.

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This test was only withdrawn in October 2020 after the company accepted it did not represent the product on sale.

But the company said its products made up only 5% of the insulation at Grenfell and were used without its recommendation.

The first phase of the inquiry into the fire found the cladding was the principal reason for its rapid spread, which was not made by Kingspan.

'Weasel words'

"Kingspan still has a responsibility to contribute to making good the terrible, terrible loss that the Grenfell families endured," Mr Gove said.

In a statement, Kingspan said it had "agreed to contribute to a restorative justice project to benefit the community affected by the fire".

It has also committed to pay its share of remediation costs "in circumstances where we have responsibility for the inappropriate use of K15 [insulation] in buildings", and its safe retention cannot be supported by testing.

The company added it was "committed to contributing to an appropriate joint government and industry-wide scheme to address the wider fire safety issues on buildings where those responsible can't or won't pay".

Kingspan sponsor's Ulster's home stadium

"We have since reiterated our prior offers to contribute to an appropriate joint government and industry-wide scheme and discussed the importance of prioritising a building-by-building assessments using the fire risk appraisal PAS 9980 to give residents certainty about the safety of their specific building," a spokesperson said.

However, Mr Gove branded the company's comments as "weasel words".

"We know that there are developments, people who were responsible for buildings who have contributed and I'm grateful to them and grateful to builders and developers across the United Kingdom for making a contribution," he said.

"But Kingspan continue, I'm afraid, to evade their responsibilities and the idea that they can say that their products were used inappropriately.

"[It] is part of a pattern of behaviour on their part where they will not fully acknowledge their responsibility to the victims of this tragedy. "

Ulster previously defended its links to Kingspan and there was no reference to Grenfell in the announcement that the sponsorship deals were not being renewed.

The government previously called for Ulster Rugby to reconsider its relationship with Kingspan, which sponsors the team's jerseys as well as its home stadium.

"The fact [Kingspan] are trying to minimise their involvement shows that they still just don't get it," Mr Gove continued.

"I'm very pleased, however, that the chief executive of Ulster Rugby has appreciated that an association and involvement with Kingspan is inappropriate and I want to now ensure that we can work with Ulster Rugby, and others, in order to ensure that grassroots rugby across the whole of Northern Ireland can be supported.

"For Kingspan, I have a simple message, which is: you can wriggle as much as you like, but the evidence is clear, you have to own up to your responsibility."

Ulster Rugby said it had no further comment to make following Mr Gove's interview.