Ex-senior garda says fear is stopping people from helping gardaí probe drug-related attacks
A four-fold increase in drug-related arson attacks on homes since 2022 has been enabled by a fear within local communities of giving information to authorities, a former Garda has said.The number of such attacks has increased from 13 in 2022 to 50 in 2025.The most recent high-profile case took place in the early hours of New Year’s Eve when a property in Finglas, north Dublin, was petrol bombed in what Gardaí suspect is a case of mistaken identity on the part of the attackers.Gardaí at the scene of the fire. Photo: Damien Storan A woman in her 40s, a woman in her 20s and three teenagers were injured.Tragically, four-year-old boy Tadhg Farrell was killed alongside his grandaunt Mary Hoult (60) when their house in Edenderry Co Offaly was targeted by suspected petrol bombs last month.Former assistant Garda commissioner, Pat Leahy, said that a reluctance within communities to come forward with information to Gardaí for fear of revenge attacks by drug gangs has contributed to a surge in the “insidious” violence.“It's based on fear and intimidation, and unfortunately, the threats that they're making to people, to people's families – it's not just the person that's addicted to drugs that is at the bottom of this,” he told RTÉ Radio 1.Read more‘This problem is everywhere’ - How drug intimidation has reached rural Ireland“There's grandparents, there are parents, there are brothers and sisters. It's a really, really serious problem.”Research published by Gardaí shows that the most likely cohort of victims of these attacks are women aged between 40 and 60, while the most common profile for perpetrators is young men in their late teens and early 20s.“I've watched many videos that have been captured at the scene of arson attacks like this and it always shows young men late at night trying to get petrol bombs in people's windows, trying to do serious harm in these situations,” Mr Leahy said.“You're guaranteed that the mother is going to be there and in most situations, unfortunately, in some places, you're talking about kids living with granny.”The scene of the house fire in Edenderry, Co Offaly, where Mary Holt (60) and her grandnephew Tadhg Farrell (4) died following an arson attack. Photo: Aisling Hyland/PA “The insidiousness of this is quite appalling. It's quite alarming, actually, when people see the detail around this.”However, despite the enduring horror inflicted by gangs on victims of the attacks, Mr Leahy said many victims and their support networks are quite simply afraid to speak out in the aftermath.More often than not, he said, people are looking for “guarantees of safety” before providing critical information as to culprits and their motives.“We understand the problem is based on fear and that people are looking for almost for guarantees of safety when they come forward.Read morePharmacy burglar impresses judge by turning life around and avoids jail“But we have found that coming forward through the community, through contacts in the community, is what is almost preferred.”Inspectors have been appointed in recent years to liaise with communities regularly implicated in such violent incidents, and Mr Leahy said that the responsiveness of Gardaí has evolved in that time period to incorporate more local stakeholders who are coming onboard to assist investigations.“The guards can't solve this on their own for sure. But it is a problem. And what we're seeing very recently is the really sharp end of this where people are being badly injured.”
