SHOCKED: Pat and Teresa O'Brien outside their home at Hazelwood Drive, where a Ford car was burnt out in the early hours of Friday morning last.

By Sean Moriarty

Although extra garda patrols have been put in place this week to calm the ongoing disputes in Ballyspillane – local Superintendent Flor Murphy is confident that the issues can be resolved.

Another series public disorder incidents erupted in the estate in the early hours of Friday morning, at approximately 2.30am, after two cars were set on fire also causing damage to the owner’s homes. No arrests have yet been made.

However, Superintendent Flor Murphy this week told the Killarney Advertiser that he’s confident that the issues can be resolved if those involved could just “step back”, “stay calm” and continue with mediation. “We can solve this once and for all,” Supt. Murphy said.

“We all want this to stop. We’re asking everybody involved to step back, be responsible and law abiding, and think about their families. We’ve extra patrols in place and checkpoints in the area and our investigations are ongoing."

Local resident Pat O’Brien’s new Ford Focus, which belonged to his granddaughter, was torched in the driveway.

Mr O’Brien, who suffers from diabetes, said he was lucky to escape after he was alerted by the shouts of a neighbour.

“I take sleeping tablets for medical reasons,” he told the Killarney Advertiser. “I was in a deep sleep.”

A second car, a 2018 Volkswagen Passat, belonging to Mr O’Brien’s son-in-law, was also set alight just two doors away.

Emergency Services were on the scene within minutes.

“Only for the fire service we could have lost the house,” added Mr O’Brien. “The fireman told me if the car was any closer to the house it would have gone up.”

Ongoing dispute

The fires are the latest in a series of very serious incidents in the estate.

In July, the Armed Support Unit was called to the 200-house estate in response to an incident sparked by a fight involving six women in a retail premises in the town earlier that same day.

In April, a suspected fire bomb attack on a family home occurred in the estate.

Arrests

On Tuesday this week two men appeared in Killarney District Court facing allegations related to another disturbance in the estate. They were arrested earlier that day in relation to assault incidents that took place last September.