The Dublin home of a nun was doused in petrol and set alight in a sinister arson attack.
Popular community worker Sr Patricia Lahiff was left “seriously shocked” but uninjured following the incident at her home on Cappagh Road, Finglas.
The shocking incident happened in broad daylight at around noon on Saturday.
Sr Patricia (67) was in the property at the time.
Sources say that the property was targeted in a case of mistaken identity as a vicious Traveller feud continues to spiral out of control in north Dublin.
Today she confirmed to the Herald that was in the house at the time of the attack but believed she was not the intended target.
flames
“I was here alright, but it could have been worse, it could have been a house with children in it,” she said.
“It was the wrong house, but the gardai know who they are,” she added.
Sister Patricia declined to comment on the attack because she works within the community.
The front door and window of her terraced home were badly scorched in the attack, and was left melted and scorched by the flames and smoke.
The front grille of a Suzuki Swift car in the driveway was also melted by the heat of the flames.
The traumatised victim, who is part of the Holy Faith Sisters, is well known for her charity work with north Dublin Travellers.
Gardai have made no arrests in the case so far.
The chief suspect for carrying out the attack is a violent Traveller criminal who has served multiple jail sentences including a five-year stretch for stabbing a man after a boxing contest, and later making a threat to kill another during which an incident he fired a shotgun.
He is considered an “extremely volatile criminal” with a major drugs habit who also has convictions for offences such as assault and burglary.
A source said today: “This is a new low. For a thug like that to cause such anguish to a lovely person like Sr Patricia is just completely unacceptable.
“She has devoted her whole life to helping the Traveller community and this is what happens.”
FEUD
The attack on the nun’s house was just one incident during a weekend of Traveller feud related violence in north Dublin which kicked off when a bitter row broke out before a funeral.
The arson attack is being linked to a series of other incidents this year, including a number of pipe bomb attacks and a mass brawl outside a Finglas pub.
In another linked incident, three young children were lucky to survive after their home in Finglas was torched in a late night terrifying petrol bomb attack in August.
At the centre of the feuding is a notorious Traveller criminal who was first forced to flee Coolock and later Finglas by the rival faction.
To complicate matters, gardai believe that some of the Traveller criminals involved in the feuding are manufacturing and selling pipe bombs to dissident Republicans and organised crime gangs.
