MANY PARTS OF Belfast city centre were cloaked in a foul smell earlier this week but despite two investigations authorities have yet find out what caused the stink.

Numerous people took to social media to report the unusual stench, with many of them noting that it smelled “fishy”.

The Irish News reports that the smell was pervasive in many parts of the city including Wellington Place, Donegall Street, the Divis area and the Falls Road in west Belfast.

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The odour was also the source of much debate on the Frank Mitchell Phone-In radio show on U105.8 FM.

Some people blamed it on restaurants while others claimed the smell was coming from local work sites.

Belfast City Council confirmed that it received several reports of the smell and its Environmental Health Department referred the issue to Phoenix Gas and Northern Ireland Water.

A spokesperson for Northern Ireland Water told TheJournal.ie that its investigation offered no clue as as to what the weird whiff was.

“The foul odours reported on Wednesday were not connected to any of our assets,” the spokesperson said.

Phoenix Gas also failed to figure out the source of the stink. ”Phoenix Natural Gas engineers conducted safety checks of the area, as per protocol, and found no traces of gas in these areas,” it said.

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