Firebomb attack 'bid to extort money'
Four men were still in custody last night following the botched arson attack on a semi-detached house in the Cork suburb of Little Island.
Shortly after 12.20am yesterday morning, the men drove a Hiace van packed with petrol bombs to the quiet housing estate at Fairways and tried to reverse it up to the house, but it became bogged down on the lawn.
When the men ignited the firebombs, the van wasn't close enough to the house to cause any significant damage. However, a number of houses in the area were evacuated as fire crews from Cork city and Cobh dealt with the blaze.
The owner of the house, Barry Sheehan Jnr, wasn't injured. His father, Barry Snr, has been wheelchair-bound since being shot in the spine in an attempted robbery on his own home in the late 1970s.
Detectives were quick on the scene and arrested two men at the van. The other two tried to escape, but were caught nearby.
The men, who are in their late teens and early 20s, are being detained at garda stations in Togher and Mayfield, under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.
A senior garda said it was believed the four were trying to extort money from Barry Sheehan Jnr. It is understood that three of them were well known to gardaí and had been under surveillance for some time.
"We believe there have been a number of cases where dissident Republicans have tried to extort money from businessmen to fund their organisation," the garda spokesman said.
He added that many people were frightened to report such incidents, because of the nature and source of the intimidation.
It is believed criminal gangs have also been targeted by the Real IRA.
People living in the Fairways estate expressed their shock at what happened.
Michael Manley said he heard a loud bang when the petrol bombs were ignited.
"When I looked out first I though it was a crash. Then I saw a lot of smoke coming up from outside the house," Mr Manley said.
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