Tuesday’s Top Stories: Battle for Barne Estate heats up; local links to Galway hotel fire investigated

Gardaí believe Galway hotel fire the work of local opposed to immigration

The fire which gutted much of a historic Co Galway hotel earmarked for asylum seeker accommodation was the work of a local person, gardaí believe.

The blaze, which broke out at the Ross Lake House Hotel in Rosscahill, near Oughterard, on Saturday night is being treated by gardaí as arson.

The 13 bedroom house, which is in private ownership, was the site of protests last week following an announcement it was to be used for temporary accommodation for 70 asylum seekers, including some who have been forced to sleep rough due to a lack of beds.

Top News Stories

• Galway hotel fire: ‘People got jobs there, they got married there. It’s a beautiful old building’: It’s the primary topic of every conversation but it’s the subject nobody wants to talk about on the record in Rosscahill as the fallout continues from the protest and fire at the disused hotel which was due to house 70 asylum seekers from next Thursday.
• Brown envelopes and the Barne Estate: John Magnier’s battle to buy one of Co Tipperary’s most prized farms: Billionaire businessman John Magnier is no stranger to getting what he wants – as the British Government and the former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, among many others, have found to their cost.
• Dublin riots: Gardaí ‘surprised’ at speed disinformation spread online before disorder, says Harris: Gardaí were “surprised” at the speed “disinformation” spread online before the Dublin riots last month, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said on Monday.
• Brothers caught digging up €80,000 in coffee jars in a Dublin field: A Garda helicopter captured footage of members of the “Wall organised crime group” digging up almost €80,000 buried in coffee jars in a suburban Dublin field, a court has heard.
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Video & Podcast Highlights

• In the News: After another arson attack, what options are left for housing asylum seekers?

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