Man arrested over 2024 fire at site wrongly identified as asylum centre

A man in his 30s has been arrested by gardai investigating the suspected arson of a building which was wrongly rumoured to have been earmarked for accommodating asylum seekers.

At the time of the fire in February 2024, gardai said the building in Leixlip, Co Kildare, was the subject of a “significant volume” of misinformation, disinformation and rumour in relation to its use or intended purpose.

The seven-bedroom detached house on Celbridge Road had been wrongly linked to housing for asylum seekers, and protests had taken place outside the property in the preceding weeks.

It came after other buildings had been set alight across the country.

Gardai said that no-one was in the building at the time of the fire, but that substantial damage was caused to the property.

On Tuesday, gardai said a man in his 30s had been arrested by officers investigating criminal damage by fire in Leixlip on January 30 and February 7, 2024.

He was detained at a Co Kildare garda station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

The man was released without charge pending a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on Tuesday evening.

Another man in his 40s has been charged in connection with the incident.

A garda spokesperson said investigations are ongoing.