Luck for the Irish as fire-hit Finnegan's rises from ashes

A POPULAR pub which was left badly damaged after a fire in the city's Old Town is to rise from its ashes this summer.

Finnegan's Wake has been given the go-ahead by planning bosses to rebuild and refit its Victoria Street site following a major fire 18 months ago.

The Irish bar is to undergo some interior changes but its surviving mascot, Finnegan, will return to take its place again.

The pub caught fire in December 2008 in the same blaze that decimated Liquid Rooms and Khushi's. Christian Harvey, of interior designers Fusion by Design, said: "Most of the artefacts were damaged by smoke, or water from the firemen's hoses.

"But there were a few Irish signposts, old Guinness ads and the odd sporting artefact that can still be polished up and put back in place, and the managers will no doubt be delighted that Finnegan himself has also survived.

"He was a bit of a mascot and they used to dress him as Santa and other outfits suitable to the time of year."