Town in shock after two die in apartment blaze

A parish priest has said that a town is in shock following the death in a fire of two people who had come to live in the community.

The victims of the fire which broke out in an apartment in the early hours of yesterday morning in Co Galway were last night named as Nuala Sweeney, 65, and Ben Whiteman, 38.

The victims, who were not related, were staying in an apartment at Station Rd, in Gort, in the south of the county.

Ms Sweeney, who is also believed to have lived in Co Clare for a time where she ran a B&B, was originally from Dublin, and was a mother of four grown-up children.

Mr Whiteman, who was a mechanic, was from Stafford in England.

Both had come to live in the town close to the Galway-Clare border some years ago and were well known.

Neighbours and friends said they were popular in the town and had settled in with the local community.

Gort parish priest Fr Tommy Marrinan said the local community was shocked by the double tragedy.

“It is an awful tragedy and people can’t believe what has happened. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the two people.”

Mr Whiteman was regarded as a talented mechanic and a very helpful man.

The alarm was raised shortly before 3am when the fire broke out in the apartment on Station Road, just off Main Street.

A garda spokesperson said that the initial examination suggested that the fire was not suspicious but that they needed to wait for the results of the postmortem examinations before deciding what course their investigations would take.