A club for people with special needs in Bray, Co Wicklow, has been closed until further notice following a fire.
The fire took place at 2am on Friday at Lakers Social and Recreational Club on Seapoint Road. A number of fire units attended the scene. Gardaí said no one was injured and investigations are ongoing.
Fergus Finlay, the former chief executive of Barnados who retired last week, said he had been looking forward to volunteering at Lakers, where his daughter Mandy is a member.
He told RTÉ's News at One that the club was a "lifeline" to it 400 members.
The fire damaged one of the club's buildings and destroyed four buses, which Mr Finlay said were vital to the service.
“Some members travel to us, some cannot and buses are used for that, to bring them to the swimming pool, to football, to wherever activities happen,” he said.
The damage caused to the club is going to be devastating for the members and their families, but everyone is determined to get it back up and running as soon as possible, he said.
Mr Finlay said staff met with Minister for Health Simon Harris, who is a local TD, on Friday and have a further meeting with him on Monday "when we have a better idea about what to do".
He said: “The club is run on a shoe string. Its ethos is that the members are the people who matter most. They come here because they want to, not because they have nowhere else to go. It genuinely is a place where the members come first. There is a small number of staff. They are all devastated.”
A statement from Lakers said: “We are devastated to inform everyone that there was a fire in our centre last night and we will be closed until further notice. No one was injured or hurt as it happened during night. We are trying our best to contact all members and volunteers so please be patient with us.”
Mr Harris said it was a very upsetting day for the community.
Fianna Fáil Wicklow TD Stephen Donnelly said emergency funding must be made available for the facility as soon as possible.
