Dublin Jiu-Jitsu Club Receives Community Support After Fire

Last month, coaches at an inner-city Dublin martial arts club were cleaning up their gym after another busy day training dozens of its members the art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Little did they know the following morning they would be waking up to the devastating news that their beloved premises had been completely destroyed in an apparent arson attack. Republic of Jiu Jitsu on Townsend Street in Dublin city centre was founded by Abnel Rodrigues in 2018.

Its membership grew and grew with a number of classes held every day throughout the week, with its youngest member just four years old and its eldest 64. After years of sharing spaces with other clubs, they finally moved into a gym they could call home in April last year. For many of its members, it became a second home, providing after-school classes for children, as well as helping people through depression, addiction, bullying, and burnout.

However, in the early hours of 17 June, a fire ripped through the premises, completely gutting the facility and destroying prized belts, medals, training gear, and mats. The gym itself sits on the ground floor of a large block of apartments on the corner of Townsend Street and Shaw Street in Dublin's south inner city. Heat and smoke woke the residents living above, however, thankfully firefighters from Dublin Fire Brigade’s headquarters meters away were quick on the scene and contained the fire, preventing it from spreading through the building.

Colm Finlay, a coach with the Republic of Jiu Jitsu and a brown belt, said it has been devastating for members to see their gym turned to ash. He said: \"I woke up that morning and one of the coaches sent in a video and it showed some of the damage. Initially I saw a smashed window and I thought 'oh my goodness somebody's broken a window that's terrible’. Then I saw a second broken window and eventually I saw the full extent of the damage. I was completely and utterly shocked and deeply saddened. The only thing to be thankful for was that the fire brigade got here so quickly, fortunately we're very near to them. It could have been a much worse incident without their assistance, and they stopped the fire spreading out of control to the apartments upstairs. None the less I'm incredibly shocked by the loss of the facility and just concerned about what would happen to all the kids who benefit from our programs and the people who benefit from our gym on a daily basis.\"

However, since the blaze local businesses and residents in the area and other jiu-jitsu clubs both here and across the world have rallied around the club, providing support as well as offering facilities to allow members to continue their training. Mr. Finlay said: \"I'm completely amazed and taken aback by all the support from the community, both the local community here, local businesses, residents but also the wider jiu-jitsu community in Ireland and indeed overseas. The plan now is to reinstate the gym to an even better standard than it ever was before and to get back training and get the programs back up and running again. And just to make it as good a place to train as possible and maybe make it a center, a Mecca, for everybody in Ireland and maybe abroad to come and train jiu-jitsu with us, be it full time or just drop-ins - a place for everyone to be welcomed every time, a paragon of jiu-jitsu.\"

At the time of the incident, gardaí said they were investigating an incident of criminal damage at the premises.