Man held over Jesuit HQ blaze

A man was arrested today in connection with a fire at the Irish headquarters of the Jesuit Order, gardaí said.

The Good Friday blaze damaged the roof and upstairs section of the building in Eglinton Road, Donnybrook, Dublin.

A 25-year-old man was arrested in Co Galway today by officers investigating the incident.

“He is being questioned by detectives under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and can be detained for up to 24 hours,” a Garda spokesman said.

Six units from Dublin Fire Brigade fought the blaze after the alarm was raised by a postgraduate student who was in the building at the time.

Nobody was injured in the incident.

Gardaí were initially suspicious that the fire may have been started deliberately.

Files of important Jesuit archives were not damaged but personal belongings of four priests who lived in the house were destroyed.

Eglinton Road has been the headquarters of the Jesuits in Ireland since 1957 when the order moved from Gardiner Street.

The order has now temporarily moved to Lower Leeson Street until the building in Eglinton Road is restored.