Suspected gas explosion damages Galway City Hall

Galway City Hall was badly damaged in a suspected gas explosion today.

About a dozen windows at the rear of the building on College Road were blown out in a blast at about 8am.

A Garda spokesman said up to three staff were on the premises at the time but no one was injured.

Fire crews were on the scene and sealed the area off as they attempted to establish the cause of the blast.

It is understood emergency services were examining whether the explosion may have been caused by a gas leak.

Another possible cause being examined was whether heaters or boilers on the ground floor burst or exploded.

A spokesman for Galway City Council said: “We don’t know what caused it.”

Five offices on the ground floor at the rear of the building had windows, including their frames, blown out.

“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,” the spokesman said.

“It must have been a very powerful explosion.”

The council official said a number of people were making their way into work and were in a separate building at the back of City Hall 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.

Galway City Mayor Declan McDonnell said his main concern was whether any workers had been injured.

“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.”

Mr McDonnell revealed that the blast happened in the payroll department and seriously damaged half of the ground floor and blew out 15 large windows.

The administration, planning and finance sections of the council were also housed in the building, he said.

But 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.”