FOUR SEPARATE investigations are to be conducted into an explosion which destroyed much of the ground floor of Galway City Hall.
The Health and Safety Authority, the Garda Technical Bureau, Galway City Council and the Fire Service are inquiring into the cause of the incident, which occurred at about 7.45am yesterday morning. Mayor of Galway City Declan McDonnell (Ind) said it was fortunate there were so few people in the building at the time, or the result could have been catastrophic.
About 200 staff are normally based in the building, which houses Galway City Council offices.
The mayor was contacted shortly after 8am by city manager Joe McGrath. Both men had been due to attend a meeting there at 8.30am. Assistant chief fire officer Paul Duffy also said it was very fortunate that it occurred when very few people were on the three-storey premises on College Road, close to Eyre Square in the city centre.
Substantial internal damage saw about a dozen smashed windows, with frames destroyed.
Sections of the building will remain closed for some time pending repair work and inspections.
The local authority said that a full investigation would be carried out, and alternative arrangements would be put in place to ensure normal service would be resumed.
Bord Gáis said it wished to clarify that the city hall was not served by natural gas, and the explosion was “not natural gas-related”.
Gardaí ruled out foul play early on, but would not speculate on the cause – with one suggestion being that a large water heater could have exploded.