The big front windows of Mick O’Shea’s Irish Pub opened out onto the street where construction workers still appeared to be dealing with cleanup from the fire that caused the Irish pub to close down almost one month ago.

Inside, the song by Simple Minds on the loudspeaker said it all: Don’t you, forget about me. Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t.

The bar reopened late Wednesday afternoon, and not a moment too soon for its regulars. Through the door walked Doug Fitz, heading toward a wooden stool at the bar to sit next to his co-workers. “It’s so good to be home,” he told them. Fitz said he and his colleagues from a nearby architecture firm were left bereft with the closing of their favorite lunchtime haunt — there’s nothing like it in walking distance.

Owners and managers of Mick O’Shea’s, which opened in 1995, have declined to be interviewed since an underground fire shut down the North Charles Street establishment in late September. But they signaled their frustration with the incident through a sign posted on their door during the closure. “Closed,” someone wrote in black marker on paper taped to the entrance. “Really due to the fact that the powers that be failed to maintain the infrastructure,” it said. Then underlined: “Not our fault.” In the corner, someone urged patrons in smaller letters to “vote them politicians out” and “get better ones in office.”

City officials still don’t know why so many underground fires have happened this year. The Sept. 29 blaze was the third to happen along a three-block area encompassing Mick O’Shea’s since January, and the 10th underground fire in the city for 2024.

Some of the surrounding businesses remain shuttered. Viva Books took the brunt of the damage and now has a massive hole in its floor. “Our future feels uncertain, but we are determined to rebuild,” a message from the bookstore reads on its GoFundMe page. The business, along with neighboring plant shop Stem and Vine, are currently operating at 800 N. Charles after that building’s landlord reached out and offered them use of the space for free, said publicist Steve Kearney.

Two doors down, Lumbini Restaurant owner Dinesh Gurung said his Indian eatery is “losing a lot of revenue” from having been shut for nearly a month. He plans to reopen next week, but in the meantime he’s cleaning and answering the phone in case customers call. Lumbini also had to close for a few days in January for a fire that hit the area. This time, Gurung said, “I hope people don’t think we’re closed for real. That will hurt the business.”

Back at Mick’s, Dolly Parton came on as the lunch crowd got going on pints of Boh and orders of chicken sandwiches. They let you dream just to watch ‘em shatter/ You’re just a step on the bossman’s ladder/But you’ve got dreams he’ll never take away.