Vandals broke windows and doors in the home of a Kilkenny county councillor and caused €7,000 damage to his van on Thursday night.
The independent politician, a brother of Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness, believes the incident at Bishop Birch Place in Kilkenny city may have been prompted by an interview he gave on local radio on Monday in which he highlighted anti-social behaviour at St Kieran’s Cemetery in the city.
“I said I wanted the guards to deal with the anti-social behaviour. It was attracting a large amount of people and there was a lot of drinking going on. It’s being going on for more than a year,” he said. “It got a lot of press locally and people got very upset about it.”
Mr McGuinness also highlighted the issue at a local municipal council meeting when he said there were organised parties in the cemetery with “bunting, flags and balloons” and it was disrespectful to the memories of those buried there and their families. “It was like a circus – RIP should mean just that,” he said.
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He said he was upstairs when vandals came to his house at about 8pm on Thursday. He rushed down when somebody smashed in a panel of his front door. They also broke windows and damaged his one-year-old Peugeot Partner van before leaving the scene.
“Intimidation has always been an issue. We will not attract people into politics,” he said. “Democracy is on the line here when a local politician cannot stand up and express an honest opinion about what is going on in his community without being targeted by thugs and criminals.”
The Garda said it was investigating “an incident of criminal damage that occurred at a residence on the outskirts of Kilkenny city” shortly after 8pm on Thursday. They said no further information was available.
Anyone with information about the incident or who may have relevant dashcam or CCTV footage is asked to contact Kilkenny Garda station on (056) 777 5000 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
