Investigation follows City Hall blast
A water boiler may have been the cause of an explosion which badly damaged Galway City Hall today.
More than a dozen windows, including their frames, were blown out of the rear of the building on College Road at about 8am.
Gardaí, fire brigade, city council engineers and health and safety investigators were examining the building to establish the cause.
No-one was injured.
Galway City Mayor Declan McDonnell said there was relief among council staff no employees were caught up in it.
“If this had happened an hour or two later there would have been serious consequences, about 300 to 400 staff based there,” he said.
“There were a few people in the building at the time but nobody was in the section damaged.
“Obviously the ones that were in there are shocked and upset, but the good news is nobody was injured.”
A Garda spokesman said up to three employees were on the premises at the time in a separate council building at the rear of City Hall.
It was initially suspected gas may have caused the explosion but Bord Gais, which had an official on site, said the City Hall is not served by natural gas and there was no leak in the vicinity.
Investigators were instead focussing on a water boiler which may have blown up.
City Hall was expected to stay closed for the day as technical examinations continued in the five badly damaged offices which house the payroll department, while structural checks were also carried out inside the building.
“Windows all along one side were blown from the inside out – it could be up to 20 panes, and it was windows and their frames,” a city council spokesman said.
“It must have been a very powerful explosion.”
The council official said a number of people were making their way into work when the blast occurred. No other part of the building was damaged.
“At the moment luckily there was no one in that section. Staff were only beginning to arrive,” the spokesman said.
“There were a number of people in a separate building to the rear who felt a very loud, powerful explosion.”
Gardaí are to carry out a technical examination and the council’s health and safety officers are also examining the cause.
The Mayor stressed that services remained in operation across the city.
“There is an emergency team meeting this morning, putting in place plans for a new switchboard in one of our other premises for the time being,” he added.
“The building will be out of commission for a few weeks so the staff who work where will work from other buildings.”
