THE owner of a west Belfast factory which was destroyed in a fire has thanked all those who have come to his aid since the blaze.
Tony Abbate of Belfast Crystal at Kennedy Way Industrial Estate, which specialises in hand-cut glassware, had been looking towards celebrating four decades in business next year.
He said he has been inundated with messages and offers of support since the fire on Sunday and has been offered everything from temporary offices to free storage for salvaged stock.
"We have had so many telephone calls, text messages, e-mails, Facebook and Twitter, all expressing their deep sadness and best wishes that hopefully we can recover from this," he said.
Mr Abbate said two portable offices were delivered to him on Monday, organised by a man who had called to the site and was "devastated" to see the conditions.
He said people have also been very supportive of a GoFundMe appeal which has so far raised more than £5,000.
"We have had money coming from people we have never ever heard of," he said.
"Every £10 and £20 makes all the difference."
He added: "Fire Service have finished the investigation. We haven't got a report. It was definitely started maliciously outside the factory."
The Belfast man said the family hope to rebuild the business at the same location.
"This is our spiritual home," he said.
"We have had kind offers from people offering units in Nutts Corner, Lisburn and Ballynahinch.
"If we don't start again, what are we going to do? This happened, it's going to be very hard but if we can just get up and going. Everybody has to start from somewhere."
