Excitement as iconic Buncrana venue The Plaza set to reopen this weekend five years after fire

It follows a devastating fire just over five years ago at a neighbouring commercial premises on Main Street which saw 60 firefighters from Donegal and Derry tackle the blaze.

"We are so excited to reopen this weekend," Ursula McDaid, manager of The Plaza told the Journal.

“We are doing the reopening in two stages, and this weekend is the first stage of the reopening. The large ballroom will follow later.

"We cannot wait to reopen on Friday night. Everybody is so glad to see The Plaza return to Buncrana, it has been sorely missed over the past five years. Now it is time to pick up where we left off.

"The public support and public interest in The Plaza has been unbelievable. It is hard to put into words how much we appreciate all of the local support.”

Ursula is emphatic in her praise of the hardworking local firefighters who fought tirelessly to salvage what they could at The Plaza on the night of the fire in February 2019, in addition to the gardai and local councillors, who she says have been "invaluable" in terms of their support.

"The floor in the large ballroom at the back was not burned in the fire thanks to the hard work of the fire fighters. There were two fire brigades there and up to 60 firefighters who all worked tirelessly.

"In the roof space of The Plaza there were two blankets of insulation, so the firefighters pumped the water in, so that the roof soaked the floor - and that is actually how the floor was saved.

On Friday night's reopening, invited guests will see 'The Old Plaza', and Ursula says "to get to this stage is just brilliant."

Ursula adds: "I am over the moon. We would have been here probably two years ago, only Covid happened and it set us back probably by about two years. But the public support for The Plaza has just been unbelievable.

"On Friday night we will have the official reopening with invited guests. Those include regulars who would have come to The Plaza for decades and were coming right up until we closed. We even have one couple who got married here over 50 years ago in the small hall.

"There would have been a lot of people coming from Derry to dance at The Plaza in years gone-by. The Plaza was always known for its good floors for dancing, both in the small hall and in the large hall. I have taught dancing myself for over 30 years which is how I got involved in The Plaza. When my mum sadly passed away I ran a fundraising dance and just a couple of days later I got a phone call from one of the committee members in The Plaza asking me to come on board - and that was 17 years ago now.”

In addition to the invitation-only event on Friday, The Plaza is holding a jam-packed schedule of events across the weekend, including a Children’s Fun Day this Saturday from 2pm until 5pm, as well as Martin Cuffe and His Band, who are performing from 8.30pm. On Sunday, The Plaza will also host bingo from 2.30pm.