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LAST UPDATE | 2 Nov 2025
GARDAÍ ARE INVESTIGATING a fire at the Drogheda Ipas centre attacked on Friday night as arson, as CCTV footage appears to show a man setting the stairs alight.
Firefighters rescued five people, including a baby, from the top floor of the building in the town’s George’s Street area.
As a result of the blaze, 28 residents are now homeless.
The CCTV footage shows a man wearing a dark blue puffer jacket with his hood up and gloves set the stairs alight before leaving the centre through the front door.
Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan had yesterday said fireworks were behind the blaze, but after technical examinations were carried out on the site by gardaí, investigators now believe that an accelerant such as petrol was used to start the fire.
Gardaí have called the attack “extremely dangerous”, as it was “endangering the lives of the residents, including children” who were home at the time of the incident around 8.15pm on Friday night.
“Following initial reports of the fire being started by the discharge of fireworks, investigations by An Garda Síochána to date indicate that the fire was started deliberately by person or persons unknown,” a statement from the Garda Press Office said.
Gardaí have now commenced an “investigation into the attempted arson” of the property.
“This was an extremely dangerous act endangering the lives of the residents, including children, who were in their home at the time,” a Garda spokesperson said.
The families were safely evacuated and a number were taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital for medical assessment.
A Senior Investigating Officer has now been appointed to lead the investigation from the incident room at Drogheda Garda Station.
The government is to carry out a review of security at all international protection centres housing asylum seekers following the arson attack.
The Department of Justice has responsibility for managing the international protection accommodation system, with more than 300 such centres in operation in Ireland.
Minister of State for Migration Colm Brophy has said that he has spoken to department officials to examine the security arrangements at at these properties.
“I would like to see a review conducted as speedily as possible, obviously, because, as I said, we have to recognize that people are living currently, in our Ipas centres, we have a duty of care to those people,” Brophy told RTÉ Radio One’s This Week programme.
“I’ve already talked to officials in the department in relation to this, that we look at security in relation to all Ipas facilities, I think it’s just something we need to be conscious of. People are there, they’re living their lives,” Brophy said.
“In this particular instance, there were women and children just going about in daily life that their safety must be of the utmost concern,” Brophy said of the Drogheda fire.
Reacting to the government’s plan, the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (Masi) said that it was welcomed, they were skeptical about the implementation.
“It feels too late for the government to say that,” Masi coordinator Lucky Khambule told The Journal. “The signs have been there for the past three years.”
Khambule added that he feared a situation where people would be “burned alive” at an Ipas centre before proper action is taken.
After technical examinations were carried out on the site by gardaí, investigators now believe that an accelerant such as petrol was used to start the fire and not fireworks as was claimed yesterday by the Government.
Reacting to the arson attack, the Green Party has accused the Government of “ignoring far-right violence and threats” following a suspected arson attack at an international protection centre housing families seeking asylum here.
In a statement yesterday, Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan condemned the attack and swore there would be “serious consequences” for those responsible.
However, opposition politicians have criticised the Government over its handling of attacks on asylum seekers.
Green Party Spokesperson for Justice Patrick Costello said the attack in Drogheda was “shocking but not surprising”.
“This Government ignoring right wing violence has led us here, and without meaningful response will only lead to deaths,” said Costello, who served as a TD for Dublin South-Central before losing his seat at last year’s General Election.
“There are escalating attacks on migrants on our streets and increasing attacks on the LGBT Community and Government don’t respond. These emboldens those who wish to spread violence and hate,” Costello said.
In a post on X, People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy criticised fellow politicians who he said “are contributing to an atmosphere” where such incidents can take place by trying to blame asylum seekers for issues facing the country.
Social Democrats justice spokesperson Gary Gannon urged that politicians and others with a platform “to do all in our power to de-escalate this hatred that is leading to violence on this scale”.
“This cannot be allowed to continue, lives are going to be lost if Government don’t act fast,” the Dublin Central TD said.
This follows sharp debate from earlier this week Tánaiste Simon Harris was criticised by the opposition for remarks he made on migration, with the Fine Gael leader in turn accusing politicians on the left of trying to “shut down” discussions on immigration.
Alliance group Le Chéile said the incident “exposes the far-right’s claims of ‘protecting women and children’ for the sham that it is”.
“This was not only an attack on vulnerable families but an attack on the very values of compassion, dignity, and solidarity that Irish society should stand for,” the group said.
It added that it was its belief that Harris’s comments during the week fostered the “toxic political climate” that the incident occurred in.
Khambule, from Masi, criticised the Justice Minister for a statement yesterday morning which attributed the fire to fireworks. Khambule said it amounted to the incident being “downplayed” and possibly related to Halloween pranks.
“It makes it seem like an accident. It’s very important that the people in that position give the correct information,” Khmabule said.
With additional reporting by Emma Hickey
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