LAST UPDATE | 4 Jan

GARDAÍ ARE INVESTIGATING a suspected arson attack at a former national school in Co Tipperary.

The alarm was raised at 9.20pm last night over the former national school on the Rocklow Road in Fethard.

Local fire services extinguished the blaze at the school, which has lain empty for a number of years.

No injuries were reported as a result of the fire.

Gardaí said they the are treating the incident as suspected criminal damage and appealed for anyone with any information or who may have seen any unusual activity at the site to contact them.

The scene has been preserved for technical examination as the investigation gets underway.

A statement from the Garda Press Office this afternoon added that they are “aware of possible misinformation, disinformation and rumour in relation to the use or proposed use” of the derelict building.

Speaking to The Journal, local Sinn Féin councillor David Dunne said that he had not heard of any rumours related to the proposed use of the building.

“It’s news to me,” he said. “It was an old school that was due to be knocked down and it was attracting a lot of anti-social behaviour.”

Dunne said that after contacting other councillors and locals in the area today, they told him that they had not heard any rumours about the proposed use of the building either. 

“We would have known, we would have heard it if there was something afoot, because locals would have said it to somebody,” he added.

Independent councillor for Carrick-on-Suir Kevin O’Meara also told The Journal that he “certainly” had not heard any rumours around the proposed use of the building.

“My understanding was the building was going to be knocked down this year as part of a renovation to the site during upgrades to the adjoining school,” he said. 

He said it had been previously used for anti-social behaviour and had been boarded up.

“In my opinion it would be best to allow Gardaí time and space to investigate first before speculating,” he added.

Earlier today, local Fine Gael councillor Mark Fitzgerald condemned the fire, noting that the building had been empty for some time.

“It’s sad to wake up to the news this morning of a fire at the old school building and I think we can only let the garda investigation proceed and commend the emergency services for their fast response to it,” he told The Journal.

Additional reporting from Jane Moore