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Developers who had just received planning permission for a 10 million euro development of a historic convent in West Cork were “devastated” to learn that a major fire there may have been started intentionally.
But Remcoll Capital CEO Paul Collins said the firm remains committed to completing the project on the former Sisters of Mercy campus on Cork Road in Skibbereen.
“We have remediation work to do now to make the building less vulnerable. We are devastated by what happened. But our commitment to the project has not changed,” Collins said.
“I don’t understand how anyone would have done this, or why.
“Our commitment here is social and it is a long-term project for us.
“It does a lot of damage. But we will do everything we can to restore it.”
Large stained glass windows and intricate woodwork are some of the irreplaceable features that, according to Collins, were “decimated” in the burning of the old convent and its chapel.
After a technical examination of the site, Gardaí believes that Tuesday’s fire may have started intentionally.
There is no electricity supply in the building, so Gardaí is confident that people started the fire.
But they have not yet determined whether it was started maliciously or accidentally.
Sleeping bags were found in an adjacent building and empty beer cans were scattered around the site.
Gardaí has asked the Garda Technical Office in Dublin to check for traces of an accelerant, such as gasoline, , which if found, may point to sinister motivations.
Gardaí is also asking for witnesses, particularly anyone who took pictures of the fire on a mobile phone or motorists with dashcam footage who were in the Cork Road area of Skibbereen between 3:15 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. to contact them.
Despite extensive damage to buildings, nearby residents were quickly evacuated from their homes Tuesday night and no one was injured.
In 2018, engineer Kevin Barry told the Southern Star that the site was unsafe and warned that an arson attack could destroy buildings. He called on the Cork County Council to secure the perimeter of the buildings.
The site’s owner and developer, Bernard Hennessy, said at the time that the site was private property, that the door was locked and that unauthorized trespassers were doing so illegally.
Mr. Collins told the that the site was well secured at the time of the fire and that anyone entering the site “would have gone to the trouble to enter.”
Less than two weeks before the fire, Remcoll 3 Ltd received permission to renovate the chapel which would have space for a desk, to convert the convent into seven apartments, to convert the former Mercy Heights school into office space and to build an Apartment Block with four floors with 52 apartments.
Anyone with information should contact the Garda station in Clonakilty on 023 882 1570, the confidential Garda line on 1800 666 111 or at any Garda station.
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