Gardaí rule out sinister anti-asylum seeker motive for fire at former Fethard school

Gardaí investigating a fire at the former Patrician national school building in Fethard last week believe it was caused by local youths who had been hanging out in the disused building and are satisfied there was no sinister anti-asylum seeker motive for the arson incident.

A Clonmel Garda Station spokesman said gardaí investigating the fire at the vacant disused school building on Rocklow Road on Wednesday night, January 3 “have ruled out” that it was caused by sinister elements opposed to international protection applicants. 

He pointed out the property wasn't "signposted" for use at any stage for housing asylum seekers and was suitable only for demolition.

He believed recent arson attacks of properties earmarked for housing asylum seekers elsewhere in the country prompted people to wrongly "join the dots" in this case and incorrectly speculate the former school was also set on fire for this reason.

The Garda spokesman said gardaí investigating the fire believe it was an act of pure vandalism. The former school building has been a place for local youths to hang out and they believe that was the situation last Wednesday night.

He said the Garda investigation into the fire is still ongoing and officers are looking at CCTV footage of the Rocklow Road area to assist them with identifying the culprits.

The fire was first spotted and reported to emergency services around 9.20pm last Wednesday. The Garda spokesman appealed to anyone who saw suspicious activity in the vicinity of the old school building that night to contact Clonmel Garda Station at (052) 6177641.

Meanwhile, Cloneen based Fine Gael Cllr Mark Fitzgerald joined with the Gardai in refuting false rumours that had circulated on social media about the former primary school building in the wake of the fire. “I just want to condemn the misinformation and disinformation that was being spread on social media,” he said.