A bookshop in Dublin city centre has been damaged following an arson attack early on Monday morning.
Books Upstairs – Dublin’s oldest independent bookstore – on D’Olier Street was set alight at around 3am.
Store manager Louise Earls said the incident was “really shocking,” as staff began to arrive to prepare for opening later on Monday.
“All we know at the moment is that it was an arson attack. Our neighbours intervened, the fire brigade came and the guards came and secured the building,” she said.
RM Block
“Thankfully the damage is mainly to the outside rather than the inside,” Ms Earls said, expressing hope that the shop will be able to partially open.
Fire damage is concentrated on the left hand side of the building’s basement, where rubble can be seen outside.
Investigations are ongoing and no injuries were reported at the time, gardaí said.
Books Upstairs was established in 1978 by Ms Earls’s father, Maurice Earls, and Enda O’Doherty, previously of The Irish Times.
Ms Earls was named Bookseller of the Year in February, accepting the O’Brien Press award at the annual Irish Book Trade Conference held in Galway’s Galmont Hotel earlier this year.
