Owner devastated after hotel targeted in arson attack

Sean McMahon

The owner of an Arva hotel, which has been targeted in a suspected arson attack while hundreds of revellers partied nearby, has told the Celt of his devastation.
The leisure centre at the Breffni Arms hotel was gutted by a blaze, which broke out at around 1.30am in the early hours of last Monday morning. Flames engulfed the roof and caused some structural damage.
Fortunately, the alarm was raised after smoke was spotted bellowing from the leisure complex, near to the function room, which at the time was packed with dancers, enjoying the annual agricultural show dance. There were no injuries as the room was swiftly evacuated of patrons.
Fire crews from Killeshandra, Ballyconnell, Belturbet, Ballyjamesduff and Cavan fought the blaze for hours and eventually managed to bring it under control, preventing its spread to the hotel area. The Divisional Scenes of Crime team carried out forensic examination on Monday morning. A senior Garda spokesman confirmed that they are investigating the matter as an arson attack. One person was arrested, questioned and released without charge. A file is being prepared for the DPP.
“I suppose there were a couple of hundred people in the function room at the time the alarm was raised. Everybody was enjoying themselves, including myself,” said Eamonn Gray proprietor.
“We got everyone out in time,” he added. “There were no lives lost, the show dance was on at the time. There is a good bit of damage done, a lot of work had gone into it, now it’s gone up in smoke.”
Mr Gray was counting the cost of the damage caused to the the centre, opened in 1998, when the Celt observed the damage first hand.
“The roof is completely damaged and there is also some structural damage,” he said, giving an ad-hoc inventory of the damage.
“I would like to thank all the firemen and the gardaí – they were absolutely tremendous. I would also like to thank the staff, neighbours and friends – everyone has been really great.”
Mr Gray added that he had been inundated with calls from well-wishers offering “loads of help and support”.