Popular Dublin bookshop set on fire

Ottoline Spearman

A clean-up operation has been taking place at Dublin's oldest independent bookshop, after it was set on fire in the early hours of Monday morning.

Books Upstairs on D’Olier Street was damaged after a blaze was set outside the store around 3am.

Gardaí were called to the scene shortly after.

Speaking on Newstalk, the store manager, Louise Earls, said that they were able to reopen on Monday despite the damage.

"We opened one half of the shop straight away, the half that was unaffected, and the other half at about lunchtime, so we're about 90 per cent open at the moment," she said.

"Thankfully, because the damage is located to the front corner of the shop, most of the shop is able to open, and the cafe will be open again tomorrow as well."

Books Upstairs was founded in 1978 by Ms Earls' father, Maurice Earls, and Enda O’Doherty, previously of The Irish Times.

Gardaí are investigating the incident as criminal damage by fire, but it is unclear whether it was a deliberate attack.

Speaking on Newstalk, Ms Earls said: "They have also told us, in the same breath as saying that it was an arson attack, they also said there was reason to believe that it was a random opportunistic situation, perhaps a bit of late-night antisocial behavior, rather than being something more sinister or targeted than that. They have CCTV images and they're looking into that now."