A fire which seriously damaged three units of the Blackrock Market in south Co Dublin in the early hours of yesterday morning is likely to have been started deliberately, according to the market manager, Mr Nick Roche.
The fire was discovered at about 2.20 a.m. on Sunday morning by Blackrock gardai, who also noticed that a section of the roof over the old stables at the market had been removed.
The Blackrock Market, which contains 50 stalls, is located in a Georgian house in the centre of Blackrock village. It was originally a hotel and tavern and dates from 1750. The weekend market has been operating from the house, a rear yard and an old coach house for 12 years.
The main house is semi-detached, and the other half of the building is now vacant. Until three years ago it was the Blackrock Garda station.
The fire is thought to have started in a telephone shop, which was very badly damaged in the blaze. Fire and smoke damage also affected adjacent units, among them a pine furniture and a knitwear shop.
"It was the third or fourth break-in we have suffered in the past month," said Mr Colin Norris, the assistant manager of the telephone shop. "There would have been about £20,000 worth of phones in the shop at the time. It was not insured. The insurance was declined because basically we were told we couldn't insure a market. Instead we tried to secure the roof with metal sheeting, but it just didn't work."
Mr Roche said he thought the vacant former Garda station next door may have added to the market's vulnerability. "It has been vacant for three years, which doesn't help," he said. "Three livelihoods are affected here, but we will have them open for business again by next weekend."
