Investigation into Galway arson attack on asylum-seeker accommodation focuses on videos taken of fire

Gardaí investigating the arson attack that destroyed a Co Galway hotel intended for asylum seekers are focused on tracing the origins of videos taken of the fire just after it broke out. The investigation team is trying to establish who was on the scene to capture the start of the fire – and who they were in contact with on the night.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said Garda investigations into a series of recent arson attacks were making progress. “This is a serious crime and I expect there will be arrests and prosecutions,” he said, adding that those setting fire to buildings could not know if somebody was inside at the time, including security personnel or rough sleepers.

“I’ve real concern that... we’ll be investigating manslaughter or murder,” he said. “There are a lot of myths that are being spread, initially by the far right. But now, unfortunately, they have become quite mainstream and are repeated now, even by mainstream politicians and mainstream journalists.”

Speaking to RTÉ Radio One’s This Week programme on Sunday, he also said the Government had “a job of work” to do in ensuring people received accurate information about the process of applying for international protection in Ireland.

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Meanwhile, Garda sources said while it was not illegal to record video in public places, the Ross Lake House Hotel in Rosscahill, Oughterard, was in a very remote location. Because of that, establishing who was present at the property at or around the time the fire started last month, and who they were in contact with, may prove important information.

After another arson attack, what options are left for housing asylum seekers?

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The blaze at the hotel was one of the latest in a series of arson or other criminal damage attacks on buildings that were designated or rumoured to be for use as accommodation for asylum seekers. While the number of these attacks has reached almost 20 in total since 2018, about half of them occurred in 2023.

Just two weeks after the fire in Rosscahill, where 70 asylum seekers were to be housed, the disused Shipwright Pub in Ringsend, south Dublin, was destroyed by arsonists. It was to be used as a hub for homeless families, though far right agitators spread misinformation claiming it was intended for asylum seekers.

On Saturday, gardaí investigating the Rosscahill attack carried out searches at four properties in that area. “A number of exhibits were seized during these searches and they will be subject to analysis which will determine the next stages of the investigation,” the Garda said.

It added that a “large-scale investigation” was under way, aided by the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, with “229 investigative tasks” conducted and 145 statements taken to date.

Two county councillors said they have been questioned in relation to the Rosscahill arson attack, which took place on the night of December 16th. Local Fianna Fáil councillors Noel Thomas and Seamus Walsh confirmed they have been interviewed by gardaí. Cllr Thomas said his phone was seized when gardaí “ransacked” his house in Moycullen on Saturday morning.

“There was doors and windows banging and shouting,” he said. “Why would they come and search my house like this without the order coming from the top? Crime investigation officers were coming down from Dublin when they could look at my profile online and see that I was not the man that lit the hotel.”

Cllr Walsh has been questioned twice by gardaí, once at a Garda station and another time in his home. On both occasions he gave lengthy statements which he refused to sign. He said to do so would have been a “betrayal” of local people. “Whoever did it, I can understand why they did it,” he said of the arson attack. “But I didn’t like the hotel being burned.”

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