Garda investigation into railway building fire

Incident being treated as 'criminal damage'

GARDAI are investigating circumstances surrounding a fire which broke out at the old railway station in Tuam on Tuesday night.

Several units of Tuam Fire Brigade as well as the gardai and an ambulance arrived at the scene shortly before 8pm.

The blaze, which saw large clouds of smoke emanate from the historic building, was brought under control swiftly. However, emergency services remained at the scene for some time and there some traffic disruptions in the area.

A Garda spokesperson told The Tuam Herald that they are treating the fire as an act of criminal damage and that their investigations into the incident are ongoing.

A spokesperson for Irish Rail said that thanks to the swift response of the emergency services, the fire was contained to one room in the derelict building.

“Initial indications are that this was a malicious damage incident,” the spokesperson stated.

Irish Rail said that one of the access areas used by the fire services was through part of the roof. “We will be securing any areas that require same following the incident,” added the spokesperson.

In September, it was confirmed that funding of €6.6million had been secured to allow the major refurbishment and regeneration of the derelict Tuam railway station site to proceed. It’s not known if the fire damage will have any impact on the planned development.

Galway County Council was successful in its application to secure the major monies for the ambitious project which is aimed at kickstarting a new future for the disused station and surrounding lands.

Planning permission for the ambitious project is already in place. The reimagining of the site will include the construction of a new enterprise hub featuring individual enterprise suites, a podcast studio, café/canteen and a multi-use community and event/educational space.