Two men in their 20s have been arrested in connection with a suspicious fire that destroyed a landmark building in Kilkenny city this morning.
A man and a woman avoided injury as they escaped from the building.
A garda on John Street spotted smoke coming from the three-storey building.
He alerted colleagues before going inside and waking the sleeping couple.
Gardaí have described it as a "critical incident".
Emergency services have contained the blaze and stopped it from spreading, but will remain at the scene until later today.
