Gardaí have said they are continuing to investigate after a fire broke out at the Ross Lake Hotel in Galway on Saturday night.
In a statement on Monday, the Gardaí said that the incident is being investigated as a criminal damage incident after the fire broke out at the premises in Rosscahill late on Saturday night.
“The incident happened at around 11.35pm and was later brought under control by Fire Services,” they said in a statement, adding that there were no persons inside the building at the time of the incident.
“The scene remains preserved for technical examination, and Gardaí are appealing for anyone who may have information regarding this incident to contact them at Clifden Garda Station 095 22500 the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station,” the statement added.
The hotel, which has not been in use for a number of years, went on sale for €1.4 million in July 2021, and is currently under private ownership. It had been the scene of protests in recent days, over plans to house 70 asylum seekers at the premises from this Thursday.
Locals voicing opposition to the plans gathered outside the hotel in recent days, forming a blockade at the entrance, with protestors telling RTÉ News that they would continue the blockade until they received further communication from the Department of Integration.
Local people said they had been told that the contract with the centre had been offered for a period of one year, with the hotel having a capacity to house 70 people in 18 rooms. They also said they were informed that the accommodation would be for adult male international protection applicants.
Local opposition to the plans had been voiced online, with some local people taking to social media to claim there had been no consultation with the local community, adding that they felt it was unsuitable due to its rural location and the lack of facilities in the area.
Videos posted to social media over the weekend showed the hotel engulfed in flames, just days after the department of integration said it would manage the arrival of people into the centre.
In a statement provided to Gript, a spokesperson for the Department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth said:
“The Department is working to offer shelter to those who are fleeing war and persecution, and condemns any violence or intimidation towards International Protection applicants.
“All those seeking protection have a right to safety while their application is examined.
“The Department also strongly condemns any alleged attempts to drive division and hostility towards those who come to Ireland seeking asylum. Acts such as these achieve nothing but endanger people’s lives and homes.”
“The incident in Galway is currently under investigation by An Garda Síochána,” the spokesperson added.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee this morning branded the attack “an arson,” stating that Gardaí had been monitoring the premises during what she described as a “peaceful protest”.
She was speaking at the Convention Centre in Dublin as Irish citizenship ceremonies were held today. She told journalists that there was private security on the private property, and asked how the fire had started if Gardai were present, she told The Irish Mirror:
“It’s very difficult where you have a rural area with no CCTV on site to be able to predict anything,” she said.
“But this was a peaceful protest. Gardaí were on scene. They monitored it, they managed it. What escalated was not part of a peaceful protest,” she said, adding:
“Gardaí cannot predict every single incident that might arise. They can manage a situation that they see as they see it, as they clearly did over the weekend.”
Her comments come as Fianna Fáil councillor Noel Thomas made headlines, after telling Galway Bay FM over the weekend that accommodating refugees was “not the responsibility” of the Galway village.
Mr Thomas told Virgin Media News: “There’s no regulation in relation to how people are being brought into the country, and unfortunately people are just fed up with it. They’ve had enough, and now they’re starting to come out and show that.
“People are coming out now in numbers to stand strong and barricade places off like this and you’re going to see an awful lot more of that.”
Speaking on Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio One today, Mr Thomas said that the protests were attended by local people who all condemned the fire at the hotel.
“You’ve got to understand the strong links that hotel has got with the community there and everybody there were completely disheartened and gutted when they heard it had burnt down,” he told the programme.
“They’re disgusted with what happened to that hotel and nobody, nobody condones what happened there,” he said.
The local councillor told the radio programme that we “have to start realising that the inn is full” when it comes to the intake of asylum seekers.
“Like, I don’t know where they’re going to go because I don’t think there was any place suitable for them to go in the first place. Why were they brought in here with the false hope that they were going to be accommodated?” he asked.
When questioned where the 70 people would go now, he responded: “I do not know. It’s not any of my responsibility, it’s not the responsibility of the community in Rosscahill.”
Another Fianna Fáil councillor, Seamus Walsh of Connemarra North, also placed the blame on government policies regarding the suspected arson.
Mr Walsh, who spoke to Gardaí reporters as he attended the protest at the Galway hotel, told The Irish Examiner that while the cause of the blaze remains unknown, “We have to stand back and look at it, and if it was a criminal act, what made that criminal act happen, and it’s this senseless policy of the Government.”
“People are living in fear, and if it was done maliciously, it is absolutely the fear for the safety and wellbeing of their families that drove people to this,” he added.
Speaking on Galway Bay FM over the weekend, he said:
“We are good to the people that are here, but we cannot be scapegoated. We cannot be used as a holding tank. It’s just not right what’s being done to us.”
He also said the former hotel was not a suitable location for IPAS applicants, and that the amenities and services were not sufficient.
“The people aren’t able to take it, the people cannot cope with it, the people don’t want it,” he told the local radio station.
Asked today whether the Government would accept responsibility for the blaze, Minister McEntee told reporters that “to blame Government, to blame anybody other than the person who set a match to that building is wrong”.