Halloween night fire at Donegal Town premises earmarked for major development

Fire crews battled to bring a blaze under control at the former Picture Mouldings factory in Donegal Town on Halloween night.

A spokesperson for Donegal County Council said: “At about 8.40pm on October 31, Donegal Town Fire Brigade was alerted to a fire at a disused industrial premises in the Milltown area of Donegal Town arriving at the scene some nine minutes later. 

“The fire brigades in Ballyshannon and Killybegs were also mobilised to assist. 

“The last brigade left the scene at 12.35 am the following day.”

Cllr Tom Conaghan (Ind) who lives near the premises spotted the flames and alerted the emergency services. 

He told Donegal Live: “I never saw flames like it. The factory is not far from a major residential area, so it was a very worrying situation.

“I would like to thank the fire service personnel for their swift response.”

The premises have been empty for a number of years since the former picture moulding factory ceased operations.

In recent years, it has become known as a place where groups of young people hang out, and it has been associated with anti-social behaviour. Fires have previously been lit at the premises which is on the banks of the River Eske not far from the centre of Donegal Town.

Cllr Conaghan said he had no wish to point the finger but said it was notable that the incident occurred on Halloween night.

He added: “Even though it was empty, it is not nice to see a building like that damaged. Thankfully no-one was hurt and it didn’t spread any further.”

In 2021, planning permission was granted to Railway Road Training for a development to include a supermarket, off-licence, eight retail units and a café/restaurant unit. 

There were 27 conditions attached. One of these conditions was a payment of €75,000 to Donegal County Council for pedestrian and road infrastructure costing €789,000 that it said was required to facilitate the development.

This was appealed by the applicant. An Bord Pleanála rejected the appeal but reduced the contribution to €18,145.