Gardai in Galway are investigating the circumstances surrounding a fire at a hotel in Eyre Square in the city centre yesterday.
Three units of Galway fire brigade were called out just after 8 a.m., and it took four hours to bring the fire at the Curran House hotel under control. No injuries were reported as the building had been empty for some time. The fire caused considerable traffic disruption in the city centre.
Several storeys of the building were gutted. Firefighters put out the blaze at around 12.30 p.m.
The hotel was sold last April for €4.3 million. Gardaí at Mill Street station said they had no information on local reports that homeless people had been seen leaving the building when the fire broke out.
In a separate development, a post mortem was carried out in Galway yesterday on the body of a young man found in a derelict house in Claregalway on the city's outskirts on Monday. The man, who has not yet been identified, was aged between 25 and 35.
A Garda spokesman said foul play is not suspected.
