Images of the fire, with flames seen shooting from the roof, have been circulated by right wing social media accounts describing them as “migrant apartments”.
In a post on social media, Sweeney said it was “outrageous” that a refurbished building risked being destroyed by fire in a “socially-deprived community”.
He said: “We secured nearly £3m in government investment to bring these tenements back and renovate them, so they can be used for the community in a city with a housing emergency.
“It was never going to illegal immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers – it was never intended for that purpose at all.
“So, anyone claiming that was spreading lies, misinformation, to generate clicks on social media, to whip up the community, wind people up and this is the upshot of it.”
Sweeney later told BBC Scotland Radio’s Lunchtime Live programme: “Obviously the police and the fire service have to conduct official investigations but, from conversations I had on the street, there were witnesses who said they had seen someone scaling the scaffolding and then a fire materialised on the roof soon afterwards.”
