Gardaí investigating house fire in Waterford city

Gardaí are investigating a house fire in Waterford city.

The fire happened at a semi-detached house in Connolly Place around 8am on Thursday morning.

No one was injured during the incident.

The house was only retaken by the council this week.

Sinn Féin councillor Jim Griffin says the council need to ensure that vacant properties do not remain empty for long periods, because they encourage anti-social behaviour and drug dealing.

“One can understand why honest, decent, hardworking neighbourhoods worry about such dwellings in their area. They constantly ask us elected representatives to find the owners/landlords or get the Local Authority to act fast in reoccupying them to keep a normally quite area safe.”