FIREFIGHTERS were still trying to quench a substantial fire at a popular south Galway hotel last night.
Large parts of the Shannon Oaks Hotel and Country Club in Portumna were destroyed in the blaze, which may have started with a fire in a chip pan at lunchtime yesterday.
The alert was raised shortly after 1pm, and all 80 guests and staff on the premises were evacuated as plumes of thick smoke began billowing over the town.
The hotel, which employs 60 full- and part-time staff, was quickly engulfed in flames, as fire crews from Galway, Loughrea and Roscommon were forced to cope with low water pressure in their efforts to bring the blaze under control.
Lodges and apartments on the hotel grounds were not affected.
Staff who were due to work on the evening shift expressed distress and fear for their jobs, as they were asked to keep well back by gardaí.
The three-star hotel close to Lough Derg on the river Shannon and Portumna forest park is one of the best known in the south Connacht region.
Its catchment area for functions extends from Galway into north Tipperary, Offaly and Clare, and it was due to host events in the fourth annual Shorelines Arts Festival, which runs from September 22nd to 25th.
The venue was popular with GAA supporters and held functions for the local Portumna club who were All-Ireland club hurling champions in 2006, 2008 and 2009.
The former family-run business has been managed by the Dalata Hotel group, which runs the Maldron Hotels network.
Dalata Group deputy chief executive Stephen McNally said the priority was that everyone on the premises was safe.
“Everybody has been accounted for and there are no injuries that we are aware of, so everybody is grateful for that,” he said.
The fire drills had “worked perfectly”, he added.
“The fire broke out at lunchtime in the kitchen area and there was an excellent response from the fire services and the gardaí,” Mr McNally told reporters.
“There were about 40 guests and a similar number of staff in the hotel at the time and there was no panic.”
He said that guests who were due to arrive were being accommodated in other hotels in Galway.
Gardaí are expected to carry out a forensic examination of the premises to determine the precise cause of the fire.
However, it was still smouldering last night, hours after the alert was first raised.
