GARDAÍ are investigating an arson attack on Ballylinan church last week, which may have been carried out by people seething over the Church’s handling of the abuse scandal.Only for the vigilance of a local man returning home from work, the fire could have burnt St Anne’s to the ground on the morning of last Sunday week (9 May).
A petrol can was left at the door of the boiler room at the church.
A man passing the church at around 4.30am spotted the flames and managed to kick the can away before the fire took hold.
Local councillor John Moran said that if not for the man’s preemptive action, the church could have gone up like a “match”.
“The roof is made of felt so if it had caught it would have gone up like a match. It’s full of wood,” he said.
Gardaí are investigating a link between the Ballylinan attack and an arson attack on Athy church, which caused thousands of euros worth of damage to the building in the early hours of last Wednesday morning.
According to a garda source, gardaí are investigating threats of attacks on church property on a national level.
Athy curate Fr Joe McDonald said he believed a detective inspector in Dublin had been assigned to investigate the church attacks.
Superintendent Maurice Regan said gardaí could not attribute the attacks to a backlash against the Catholic Church, but said the arson attacks were “something new”.
Supt Regan said: “We are concerned about the attacks, especially with one in Ballylinan and one in Athy, and being so nearby with the same MO (modus operandi) of setting fires just outside the church.”
He added that the National Bureau for Criminal Investigation had been notified about the incidents.
Cllr Moran described the fire as a deeply concerning development for the people of Ballylinan.
SIC: LNIE