THE FAMILIES WHO were staying at a building for international protection applicants that’s suspected to have been set alight are just “happy to be alive”, a local councillor has said.

Local Fine Gael councillor Ejiro O’Hare told The Journal that the wider community had rallied around to help the families since the suspected arson attack that saw their building swiftly evacuated by emergency services last Friday night.

“So many people asking did they need clothes, did they need shoes – that’s the kind of hospitality that these women have enjoyed and that shone through again,” O’Hare said.

They were staying in the George’s Street property which was being used as part of the International Protection Accommodation Service (Ipas).

Firefighters rescued five people, including a baby, from the top floor. As a result of the blaze, 28 residents were displaced.

O’Hare met with the families yesterday and found them to be “brave and strong” despite the traumatic nature of the weekend’s events.

“The fire was playing in their mind but they were just so happy to be alive,” the councillor said.

“The women are shocked, they had never experienced anything like this. But the kids are in primary and secondary school and they just want to be able to see their friends again.”

Although there had been some confusion over how the fire started, CTTV footage appears to show a man enter the building and pour an accelerant such as petrol on the stairs before setting it alight.

O’Hare said the alarm was first raised by an eight-year-old who had gone down the stairs and saw the fire making its way up the stairwell.

“He had the senses to run and tell his parents that the house is on fire. Only for him it would be a different story,” O’Hare said.

The Fine Gael councillor paid credit to Louth County Council and the accommodation centre management for assisting the families following the blaze.

The families have now been relocated.

O’Hare, who moved to Ireland from Nigeria 25 years ago, said she had seen many comments online claiming that the attack was justified, amid broader anti-immigrant rhetoric.

“Nothing excuses what happened and it does not mean you have a license to set 28 people on fire,” the councillor added.

Many of the families are still reeling from the attack but are hoping to get back to their lives soon.

“They are stronger than they think they are. We’re all just so grateful as a community that nobody was seriously hurt in this awful, awful incident.”