A man in his 50s was arrested in the midlands this morning and is being held in Longford Garda Station.

Emergency services were called to the incident early on Sunday morning, the 28th of July, bringing it under control and stopping the spread of the fire to Main Street.

There had been fears it would take over a year to fix the damage caused by the blaze last Sunday week.

Up to 60 people remain out of work due to the fire.

Over 60 staff are out of work, 13 businesses have closed, and several million euro worth of damage was caused.

Minister Dara Calleary will arrive at the scene of Sunday's fire in the town centre shortly to examine the damage.

Kevin Hussey runs a dry cleaners in the town and is calling on those with vacant commercial properties to offer them for use.

The street, which is a major trading route in the town linking the Longford Shopping Centre with Main Street has remained sealed off since early Sunday morning.