Justice Minister condemns 'vigilantism' in Roscommon

The Justice Minister has warned that vigilantes and private armies will not be tolerated in Ireland.

It comes after the attack on security men at a property in Co. Roscommon at the weekend.

They had forcibly removed a family from the house near Strokestown after a High Court repossession order was made.

But Minister Charlie Flanagan says people cannot take justice into their own hands.

"While I do not wish to comment on any individual case, I wish to stress that violence is never justified," he said.

"An Garda Síochána are the sole legitimate guardians of the peace in this State, charged with upholding the law in the interests of the whole community.

"It is never appropriate for vigilante groups to take the law into their own hands and commit acts of serious violence against people, animals or property, as was the case on Sunday.

"I strongly condemn the incidents on Sunday and I welcome that An Garda Síochána is investigating the matter.

"I am deeply disturbed by the thinly veiled references to vigilantism that have been made in recent days in social media and elsewhere.

This is a very dangerous road to go down and vigilantism cannot and will not be tolerated in this State.

"While very conscious that the full facts of this particular case are not in the public domain, it is clearly deeply distressing to see a family lose their home, particularly at this time of year. I hope the situation can be peacefully resolved through dialogue and mediation."

He added that Justice Department officials are in the process of drafting the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform (Amendment) Bill which aims is to broaden the range of matters a court must take into account when deciding whether to grant a possession order to a lending institution in respect of a borrower's principal private residence.