Limerick car attack - A mindless act of savagery

It would be difficult to disagree with Defence Minister Willie O’Dea when he described as an “incomprehensible act of savagery” the car fire that led to two young children suffering serious burns in a suspected arson attack in Limerick at the weekend.

The four-year-old boy and his six-year-old sister underwent emergency surgery yesterday after a fire engulfed their mother’s car in Moyross, and though gardaí have yet to determine the cause of the blaze, reports suggest a petrol bomb may have been involved in the incident.

Whatever the cause of the fire, it was a mindless act perpetrated by a person, or people, totally indifferent to the grievous injuries their wanton act could cause, including the loss of life.

Why it apparently happened — because the children’s mother refused to give a man a lift into Limerick city centre — defies logic and is indicative of behaviour that is fundamentally unhinged.

Moyross is an area of Limerick which has seen a high level of violence, but what happened at the weekend must bring people to their senses, because it was a totally unacceptable development.