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A SPOKESPERSON FOR the Galway Fire Service has said that around 50 per cent of the Shannon Oaks Hotel in Portumna, Co Galway was extensively damaged by a fire that broke out at lunchtime yesterday.
The fire is believed to have started in the kitchen area, the spokesperson told TheJournal.ie this morning. The blaze broke out around lunchtime yesterday and it took firefighters until 11pm last night to completely quench it. Members of the fire service were still on the scene this morning, clearing up and removing equipment.
The spokesperson said the other half of the hotel not gutted by the fire had suffered smoke and water damage. One staff member was treated for minor smoke inhalation following the outbreak of the fire but the rest of the staff and guests – totalling almost 80 people – were evacuated safely. Our picture, taken by TheJournal.ie reader Frank Mullins, shows the extent of the fire yesterday.
Stephen McNamara of the Dalata Group, which oversees 24 hotels in Ireland including the Shannon Oaks, said that three of the Oaks’ staff members were manning phone lines in Galway today to deal with customer enquiries. The number to call is 090 974 1777.
He said that while they had managed to make contact with most people who have upcoming bookings with the hotel, there were still a few who they hadn’t yet reached as their information was lost in the fire. The hotel had newly refurbished its function room and hosted a number of weddings this summer but said that there were no weddings booked in in the short-term.
McNamara said the hope was to rebuild the hotel and in the meantime there are still 39 two-bedroom apartments and 22 lodges still operating on the grounds. He said, “Portumna needs a hotel. We had a very busy July and August.”
The hotel was hosting two tour groups from Germany yesterday and they were moved to another hotel in Galway last night. Their luggage was recovered by firefighters. McNamara said:
We have to say the whole support system with the fire service was fantastic. The fire happened in the kitchen at lunchtime which just goes to show how quickly these things can spread. It really hammers home how damaging fire can be.
He said that the Group were still dealing with the immediate aftermath of the fire but that when it could establish a timeframe for rebuilding or otherwise, its priority would be to inform staff who are currently concerned about their job status.
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This was no accident. Those pigeons were radicalised.
Journal its called a bird strike..
@Paul: The pendants are out in force already.
@Seamus Mc Meel: Sorry,pedants!
@Seamus Mc Meel: or idiots…
Why didn’t they land safely in the water and make a movie about it???
I was in Naples & Capri few years ago & it was fabulous….dine daily wine daily and merry!
@Thosj Carroll: thanks for that.
@Thosj Carroll: Well Done.
Were Dick Dastardly and his co-pilot Muttley flying the plane?
@O Swetenham: Well if they were flying it they more than caught the pigeons this time round..
Coo L
Flocking hell.
They’d only been flying for 20 minutes? How high were those pigeons supposedly flying, if they were hit 20 minutes after take off?!!
@The Thinker: Must be a hoax so
@Matty kinevan: Not saying it’s a hoax of course. But badly described, or some information is missing.
Airports have a variety of bird control techniques to reduce these types of incidences. Noise machines, gun sounders etc.
@Paul Foot:
Not planes I hope ;o)
Glad all are safe.
@Paul Foot: cats would be good
I was flying back home from Edinburgh last October. Huge swarms of migrating geese were right over the airport. I think they sent flares up to divert them.. but as a nervous flyer I was bricking myself. Thank god the entire crew forgot to turn up and the flight was delayed…by the time the pilot turned up the geese were visiting the Sassenachs. Ryan Air, what can you do.
Some poor lad had his racing coup wiped out anyway…. few hundred/ thousand euro gone…
Does anybody know did the pigeon die?
@Shawn Rahoon: It’s fair to assume that they did
A flock of seagulls – ba doom tisss…
@Craig De Barra: Are you having a stroke?
@Matty kinevan: nope – you’re probably a bit young to understand that comment, or bereft of a sense of humour
Sully, is that you?
Wishing I had a photograph of that…
@Oisin Conroy: There are videos on YouTube of tests for this scenario being conducted. They fire frozen chickens out of cannons into the running engines. It’s pretty spectacular.
@Matty kinevan: I have to ask, why are the chickens frozen?
@Rui Firmino: Don’t know I never asked :-) I presume to keep them from just flying apart upon exiting the cannon
@Rui Firmino: So they won’t go off,duuh!
I suppose the HSE are buggered now saying that, (more or less demanding that,) we all get the FLU vaccine.? AIR LINGUS will be on strike next now, demanding a pay-rise for their expertise in dealing with bird flu contamination.!
@Michael Kelly: How about learning to spell the name of the company before trying to go on some pointless rant?
Any news on how the birds are doing?
Northside pigeons awful trouble makers.
@Ní Maith Liom Eva: swing and a miss
have your say