A FORMER Irish clun in Birmingham has been burned down in a suspected arson attack.
The fire, believed to have been started deliberately, broke out at around 7.15pm on Sunday at Ruskin Hall, a venue which was popular for Irish events in the city.
The Victoria Road social club was the setting for many Irish events before it closed down some years ago. It has since been vacant.
“We got a 999 call at 7.16pm on Sunday,” a West Midlands Fire Service spokesman told The Irish Post. “Ruskin Hall on Victoria Road in Aston, Birmingham, was on fire. Eight fire engines attended the scene and there were around 60 fire fighters there.”
The blaze took two and a half hours to get under control – and a careful watch was kept overnight to ensure the fire did not break out again.
The building was burned to the ground. Picture: West Mids Fire Service/FacebookA local engineer from Birmingham City Council was drafted in to assess Ruskin Hall but the abandoned building was beyond repair.
Second generation Irishman Paddy Benson, son of well-known boxer Pat Benson, boxed in the club as a youngster.
“Ruskin Hall as an Irish venue would have been a bit before my time but I boxed there when I was younger,” he said.
The social club is just three miles from the area of Small Heath in Birmingham, which was a largely Irish-populated part of the city in the 1960s.
Though nobody was injured in the fire, those who live in the area were told to keep windows and doors closed as the smoky plumes rose high in the sky across the city.
The West Midlands Fire Service confirmed to The Irish Post this afternoon that it was investigating the fire as a suspected arson attack.
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