Longford Review of the Year August 2024: Longford town centre businesses suffer millions of euro worth of damage following devastating fire

Major fire in Longford town centre

A massive fire engulfed the Grafton Court building on July 28 which caused millions of euro of damage, and the Leader reported on the story in our August 2 edition.
The inferno broke out shortly before 1.30am on Sunday, July 28 and Gardaí and emergency services were quickly on the scene. Residents in the overhead apartments were safely evacuated.
Local fire services brought the fire under control and residents in the overhead apartments were rescued and safely evacuated.
There were no injuries reported.
However, severe structural damage was caused to the building which affected dozens of businesses.
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise Dara Calleary and local Fianna Fáil TD Joe Flaherty and Longford County Council officials met with affected business owners and members of Longford County Council on July 31.
The scene was preserved to facilitate forensic and technical examinations.
Gardaí issued an appeal and asked any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were in the area between 12am midnight and 2am to make this footage available to Gardaí.
On the morning of Sunday, July 28 several businesses in the heart of Longford town surveyed the wrekage in the wake of the devastating fire.
Owner of grafters Hair Studio, Pauline Coady Belton, whose business employed 13 people in the Grafton Court premises, spoke to the Leader about the fallout from the blaze.

"It will be quite a while before we can get up and running again. We don't know what we are dealing with yet," she stated. "It is a sad situation. All of the businesses are in this together. However, everyone is safe and that's important," Pauline added.

Tributes to soldier

Tributes poured in for a young soldier and motorcyclist in August following his tragic death in a crash in county Longford.
The crash, which claimed the life of Pte Ross 'Mull' Mulligan (31), occurred on the R198 at Kilnashee, Drumlish in the early hours of Saturday, August 10 at approximately 1:15am.
The popular Defence Forces member had served abroad in Syria in the 67th Inf GP UNDOF, and was also a member of the Devil's Disciples Motorcycle club.
Colleagues described Ross as “a gentleman to the core”.

CAB target local gang

The seizure by the Criminal Assets Bureau in August of property, gold bars, cash, a car and other assets as they target the activities of a Longford organised crime group was heralded as an important landmark in the administration of justice.
“It's sending out a message that people who thrive on ill-gotten gains will get their comeuppance and justice will be done and I hope this is just one of many to follow,” Cllr Seamus Butler said of the move.
CAB seized properties in three different counties.

Longford Marathon

Hundreds of people lined the streets of Longford Town in August to cheer on the participants in 2024 Abbott Longford Marathon. The Marathon sold out all of the places available to racers for the first time since they started in 2003.
“It was record-breaking, the biggest entry ever,” Fiona Fenelon of the organising committee said. “We had over 1,300 people registered for the marathon at the weekend.”