SIXTEEN COACHES and a bus depot were gutted in a suspected arson attack in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Sightseeing buses, a vintage Routemaster and various single and double-decker coaches were destroyed when fire broke out at the depot of the Dualway Group in Keatings Park off the Naas Road at Rathcoole, Co Dublin.
The average cost of replacement coaches is between €250,000 and €300,000, valuing the damage at several million euro potentially.
General manager David McConn said he was devastated by the fire, but intended to carry on.
The company was able to operate its City Sightseeing open-top buses for Dublin as normal yesterday.
Mr McConn said the company would “pick up the pieces” after the fire, which destroyed a third of its fleet.
Gardaí suspect the fire was started deliberately by arsonists who broke into the premises.
The scene was sealed off for a technical examination. Insurance assessors also visited the scene of the fire yesterday.
Officers from the forensic team removed a section of fence from around the isolated depot for examination.
The Dualway Group is a family-run business founded 30 years ago by Tony McConn and managed by his son David.
The company employs 90 people and had a fleet of 48 coaches in total.
It is the only private operator which provides open-top bus tours of Dublin through its City Sightseeing Dublin service.
The Dualway Group also provides sightseeing tours of Wicklow and Kilkenny.
The company operates tour buses on behalf of international tour operator Grey Line. Dualway also provides a number of scheduled services in Dublin, school buses and corporate and group transport.
In its fleet, it has closed and open-top double-decker buses, party buses, a limo bus, executive coaches and luxury cars.
The company has won a slew of awards for its services.
Last year it received an Optimus Mark of Excellence from Fáilte Ireland, and won the best livery in Fleetmagazine's Coach and Bus awards in 2009. It also won Fáilte Ireland's customer service excellence award from 2004 to 2007.
Coach Tourism Transport Council of Ireland chief executive Gerry Mullins said the timing of the fire could not have been worse, as the tourism season got under way in earnest this weekend – and next weekend is another bank holiday.
“It is terrible. Dualway is one of the longest-standing and best privately run bus companies in Ireland. What has happened is a tragedy,” he said.
Anybody with information about the fire should contact Rathcoole Garda station on 01-6667900.
