Criminal investigation begins into fire at former Artane industrial school

SUNDAY NIGHT'S fire which destroyed a church at the former industrial school in Artane, Dublin, is being treated as a crime, a Garda spokeswoman has said.

The former church at St David's CBS, which was being used as a storehouse for the school and the Artane School of Music, was gutted in the fire, which broke out shortly after 6pm on Sunday and took over four hours for six units of Dublin Fire Brigade to bring under control.

Yesterday afternoon, staff from Dublin City Council's dangerous buildings section were removing the remains of the roof. This was done in advance of members of the Garda technical bureau entering the building.

A spokesman for the council said that once the Garda had completed its investigations, the building would be made safe for the general public. This process would probably begin this morning, he said.

A Garda spokeswoman described the forensics officers as the "scene of crime unit" and said: "You can take it that it is being investigated as a crime."

Padraic Kavanagh, principal of St David's CBS, formerly the Artane industrial school, said witnesses had reported to gardaí seeing "four or five fellows" running from the site as the blaze took hold.

The building had been insured for €1 million, he said.

Joe Edge, administrator of the Artane band, said he was "devastated" by the fire. He said there had been memorabilia, old paintings, photographs, some old instruments and old uniforms in the building. "It came as a big shock . . . The awful irony is we have been dealing with young people aged eight to 18, providing something to them that is not given to everyone - a safe environment to learn and enjoy music, and this thoughtlessness of some people, to destroy like this. It's hard to get your head around that mindset."

Residents of the small adjacent St David's Park housing estate described the fire as "something that was waiting to happen" and said anti-social behaviour was an ongoing problem, caused by ease of access to the large grounds of St David's CBS.

Bernie May, one resident, said that since an all-weather pitch had been put down on the grounds, "all sorts hang around there for a doss. The gates in are open all the time. We have been pleading with the principal there to ensure the gates are closed at night, that access is restricted".

Frank Gleeson, chairman of Parnell's GAA club, said the all-weather pitch was secured, gated, locked and monitored.

"We're a GAA club and we're trying to provide extra-curricular activity for the local kids to encourage them to play sport and keep them out of trouble," he said.

"The residents don't want people using the pitch outside school hours. The reality is though that the school was there and a pitch was there long before those houses were built."

Mr Kavanagh said he did not believe anti-social behaviour was a significant problem. "I'm not aware of any at all. We have a big building right there and never has there been a broken window or any damage."