{"id":472630,"date":"2026-05-29T07:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T07:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/472630\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T07:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T07:04:10","slug":"absolutely-traumatising-arson-attacks-increasing-across-ireland-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/472630\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Absolutely traumatising\u2019: Arson attacks increasing across Ireland \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arson attacks on council homes, including with petrol bombs, have spiralled in the last year with 35 such attacks in Dublin<\/a> alone in 2025. <\/p>\n

The increased use of arson as a means of intimidating individuals or households is \u201ctraumatising\u201d affected communities while costing local authorities millions of euro. <\/p>\n

Figures obtained by The Irish Times indicate these attacks, usually related to drug debt intimidation or gang feuding, are increasing across the country.<\/p>\n

Of the 31 local authorities, 24 responded to queries about arson attacks on council-owned homes. <\/p>\n

Of these, 14 had records of fire attacks on 113 homes in the last five years, including all four councils in Dublin and those in Limerick city and county, Galway city, and rural counties such as Mayo, Wicklow, Roscommon and Monaghan. <\/p>\n

These figures do not include attacks on private-rented or owner-occupied homes. <\/p>\n

The total cost of repairing and refurbishing firebombed council homes since 2022 totals almost \u20ac5 million, and 35 households had to be rehoused.<\/p>\n

Almost half of the attacks, numbering 50, happened last year, with Dublin councils the worst affected. Across the four authorities there have been 59 attacks since 2022 \u2013 35 of them last year, costing the capital\u2019s councils \u20ac2.95 million in repairs. <\/p>\n

At least 18 Dublin households had to be rehoused.<\/p>\n

Mick Clarke, head of Dublin City Council<\/a>\u2019s (DCC) antisocial behaviour and estate management division, in March described the rise in arson attacks as \u201cthe new epidemic\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn relation to the threat to life and the fire issue, it has become the new epidemic, the threat that these drug gangs have over people,\u201d he told the council\u2019s housing committee. <\/p>\n

South Dublin County Council<\/a> has suffered the most arson attacks \u2013 30 in the last five years, including 10 last year. A violent feud in the Quarryvale area of Clondalkin has been connected to some of these. The cost to the council is \u20ac997,000 so far, with works \u201congoing in some dwellings with final costs yet to be determined\u201d said a spokeswoman. <\/p>\n

Seven households in the council area were rehoused. <\/p>\n

There were 27 attacks across Fingal \u2013 12 of them last year; 23 in Dublin city, 13 of them last year and one in 2024 in D\u00fan Laoghaire-Rathdown.<\/p>\n

Among other arson attacks in 2025 was a petrol bomb attack<\/a> on a house in Edenderry, Co Offaly, which killed four-year-old Tadhg Farrell and his great-aunt, Mary Holt (60), last December.<\/p>\n

\"FlowersFlowers and toys outside the Castleview Park house where Tadhg Farrell (4) and his great-aunt Mary Holt (60) died in a firebomb attack in Edenderry, Co Offaly. Photograph: Bryan O\u2019Brien <\/p>\n

In Cork city, where the local authority does not track arson attacks on its dwellings, a council house was petrol bombed<\/a> in the early hours of Thursday morning. A woman in her 40s and her six children escaped the house at Meadow Park Avenue on the city\u2019s northside.<\/p>\n

Neighbours of a house recently attacked in Ballymun, north Dublin, described the experience as \u201cabsolutely traumatising\u201d. <\/p>\n

At 5.30am on May 15th a car was reversed into the front door of the house at Belclare Avenue before being set alight. A gas mains was damaged, causing an explosion. A teenage girl was injured when jumping from an upstairs window. The attack is believed to be connected to a long-running feud in the suburb.<\/p>\n

Eddy, a neighbour who did wish to give his surname, heard screaming though did not realise a house was on fire until he and neighbours were told to leave their homes because of the gas leak. \u201cIf the wind had been blowing this way [the fire] would have spread a lot more. We all had to leave our houses, all out on the road at that hour and it was freezing. It was absolutely traumatic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another neighbour, a woman in her 40s, did not give her name. \u201cThere was shooting here in December. In March they put the windows in. Then this. It is frightening. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have never felt unsafe in Ballymun. It is a great area but I have that feeling of not being safe here after this.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Appeal for information following suspected arson attack on Garda station in WexfordOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Brendan Cummins is a youth worker in Ballyfermot, west Dublin, which has also experienced a spate of attacks. On February 27th several homes were evacuated in Cherry Orchard following an arson attack on a home at 1.40am.<\/p>\n

Cummins says communities \u201care being traumatised as the level of threats and violence has increased. Nothing seems to be off the table for these criminals\u201d.<\/p>\n

Impacts on children and young people in affected areas included increased confusion, fear and anxiety, he said <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can imagine for a young child, not knowing the reasons it\u2019s happening … or being afraid it could happen to their house, it\u2019s all trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n

Council dwellings attacked since 2022 numbered six in Co Carlow at a cost of \u20ac18,000. <\/p>\n

There were three in Cork County (\u20ac14,080); five in Galway City (\u20ac336,974.70); and one in Kilkenny (\u20ac15,798.00). <\/p>\n

In Limerick there were nine (\u20ac370,633.20); 10 in Mayo (\u20ac1,500) and three in Monaghan (\u20ac158,885).<\/p>\n

There were two in Roscommon (\u20ac289,600); 11 in Wicklow (\u20ac505,609.69), and four in Sligo (\u20ac232,814.45). <\/p>\n

Minister for Housing James Browne<\/a> said he was \u201cconcerned that this kind of thing is happening in any community in the country, and such actions are illegal and deliberately intimidating, which is unacceptable.<\/p>\n

\u201cFurthermore, it is obscene \u2013 in the middle of a housing crisis \u2013 that individuals would seek to destroy or damage much-needed housing stock. <\/p>\n

\u201cI welcome the fact that DCC is now formally tracking this and I would like to see all councils do so formally so that we have the most accurate data to hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na has been contacted for comment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arson attacks on council homes, including with petrol bombs, have spiralled in the last year with 35 such…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[615,13288,61,60,7116,43,13357],"class_list":["post-472630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-dublin","tag-dublin-city-council","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-james-browne","tag-news","tag-south-dublin-county-council"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}