One man was killed and another was critically injured in a house fire in Drogheda yesterday.
The man who died was Philip Maher (43), originally from St Finian's Park, Drogheda, Co Louth, who had also lived at a number of addresses around the town and spent some time with the Simon Community in Dundalk.
His body was recovered by firefighters in a basement kitchen of a flat in the house, which is on Mary Street, Drogheda, and faces onto the former main Dublin-Belfast road. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.
A second man, in his early 30s and also from the locality, was said to be in a critical condition in hospital last night.
Both were found in the kitchen and efforts at resuscitation were made by firefighters and emergency medical technicians.
The deceased had a number of criminal convictions, mainly for public order offences, and was before the courts recently charged with alleged assault and theft. Gardaí said he was a small-time offender.
The injured man is John Pakker, originally from Moneymore, Drogheda.
In January 2002 he was convicted at Dundalk Circuit Court of arson and jailed for five years, two and a half years of which were suspended.
He admitted causing €250,000 worth of damage to St Peter's Church of Ireland in Drogheda in May 1999.
He had fled to England after the fire but did not fight extradition proceedings and entered a plea to the charge.
Sgt Pius McSweeney told the court that drink and not a sectarian motive had been behind the crime.
It is believed John Pakker had recently moved into the flat where the fire broke out. It was first spotted by local people around 10.15 a.m. when they saw smoke coming from the building and rang the fire brigade.
A spokeswoman for Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital said the injured man remained in a critical condition yesterday evening.
Four ambulances were dispatched by the North Eastern Health Board ambulance control centre and emergency medical technicians worked on both men as they were taken to the Lourdes hospital.
Assistant Chief Fire Officer Joe Lumsden said that a unit from Drogheda fire brigade had been dealing with flooding close to the Dublin road when "a number of calls were received from the public about smoke coming from the doors and windows of the building. The crew at the flooding was immediately diverted to the fire and arrived within a very short time."
He said the fire damage appeared to have been contained to the kitchen area. Garda technical experts examined the scene yesterday afternoon in an effort to establish the cause.
Mr Lumsden confirmed that a full fire detection system, including smoke alarms, was fitted in the house.
Philip Maher's death brings to 25 the number killed by fire this year.