A fire that gutted a former Dublin pub earmarked for housing homeless families was “a very sad thing to have happened here”, a local woman said on Tuesday while passing by the site of the incident.
“It’s very sad, there is just so much misinformation out there, it’s unbelievable,” Denise, who did not want to give her surname, said.
The fire broke out in the early hours of New Year’s Eve at the Shipwright pub in Ringsend. The building has been at the centre of false rumours, spread by far-right campaigners, that it was to be used to house dozens of asylum seekers. It has been the scene of several protests in recent weeks.
On Monday, gardaí confirmed the fire was the work of arsonists.
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It is one of several fires to break out in recent months at premises rumoured or confirmed to be earmarked for housing asylum seekers. A former hotel in Rosscahill, Co Galway, was destroyed in December in a suspected arson after being acquired for asylum seeker accommodation.
“I don’t think there’s anyone around here who would be against it being used for homeless families. I wouldn’t be against it being used for refugees either, but no matter who it is, you have to communicate with the locals and keep them up to date,” Denise said.
A large poster was hung up outside the pub on Monday, which said: “How can we resent refugees when so many of us were? + We refuelled 3 million US troops to destroy their functioning societies?”
Asked about his views on the poster, Fran, who rents nearby and also did not want to give his surname, said: “So many Irish people had to leave Ireland for better lives during the famine and recessions. Who are we to turn others away and burn down buildings meant to shelter them?”
“It’s really disappointing,” he said, of the incident.
CCTV evidence has been gathered from the immediate area which gardaí hope will help identify suspects.
Sources told The Irish Times on Monday that they suspect the fire was set by people who falsely believed the building was to be used for asylum seeker accommodation. There have been calls from anonymous social media accounts for the premises to be burned down. Various far-right accounts celebrated the fire throughout Sunday and continued to claim without evidence it was intended as asylum seeker accommodation.
