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Sunday World
29-05-2025
- Sunday World
Family recall ‘waking up in hell' after Dublin gang mistakenly firebombed their home
The innocent family, who had their dog burned to death, had their Ballyfermot home targeted in the middle of the night. A family who were injured and whose dog was burned to death after their home was mistakenly firebombed overnight said they woke up in hell. The innocent family's home was targeted in an early morning attack in Ballyfermot last week, causing extensive damage. Detectives believe it was carried out as part of a worsening city feud involving a young drug dealer and junior associates of gangster Brian Rattigan. At 2am Breda Curran heard her husband Pat's screams from the sitting room, where he had been due to having difficulties sleeping. "I heard a big crashing sound… I jumped up and ran down the stairs. I could feel the heat coming up the stairs and it wasn't a normal heat,' Ms Curran said. Brian Rattigan The couple and their son ran out of the house into the garden, where they noticed that their sitting room window had a hole in it. Ms Curran told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that she grabbed their garden hose and ran back in because their dog had been sleeping in the sitting room. "We were calling his name, but the heat wouldn't let us back in. When we went into the sitting room door, the fire was everywhere,' she recalled. "The whole place was up in flames… we tried to call the dog but it was too late. We just heard him whimpering and then everything went silent.' She told how the family then stood out on the road, and watched on as their home burned to the ground. Mr Curran recalled his own perspective, waking up in the sitting room to breaking glass and seeing a line of fire right in front of him. Aftermath of firebomb on house in Ballyfermot News in 90 Seconds - May 29th "It was like waking up in hell… I don't know how I didn't go on fire. All I done was I started screaming, 'Breda, Breda, Breda.' "The thought came into my head, 'what did I do', I thought I was after falling asleep, did I do something to cause this? "This is evil that came to our house,' Mr Curran said. The Ballyfermot couple said being from old stock themselves, they did not have their home insured and would have felt a 'little bit more secure' if it had been. "I don't know if I can even come back here. I don't know if I would feel safe here. I just feel totally different now. I loved me home,' Ms Curran said. She told how she does shift work and would come home, clean up, have a shower and feed the dog. The couple said they don't drink or smoke, and spend their time watching Netflix in the evening. 'All I can think now is, what was all that for? It's gone,' Ms Curran said. They thanked their neighbours, who, since the attack, have been coming over and empathising and even handed the couple money in envelopes. "Strangers come up to us often,' Mr Curran said. 'I have to say, the community spirit in Ballyfermot, it is never talked about. But the respect, compassion, goodwill that is after coming from this community is something to be admired and it keeps me going.'
Irish Independent
29-05-2025
- Irish Independent
‘This is evil that came to our house' – family recall 'waking up in hell' as home mistakenly firebombed by feuding criminals
The innocent family's home was targeted in an early morning attack in Ballyfermot last week, causing extensive damage. Detectives believe it was carried out as part of a worsening city feud involving a young drug dealer and junior associates of gangster Brian Rattigan. At 2am Breda Curran heard her husband Pat's screams from the sitting room, where he had been due to having difficulties sleeping. "I heard a big crashing sound… I jumped up and ran down the stairs. I could feel the heat coming up the stairs and it wasn't a normal heat,' Ms Curran said. The couple and their son ran out of the house into the garden, where they noticed that their sitting room window had a hole in it. Ms Curran told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that she grabbed their garden hose and ran back in because their dog had been sleeping in the sitting room. "We were calling his name, but the heat wouldn't let us back in. When we went into the sitting room door, the fire was everywhere,' she recalled. "The whole place was up in flames… we tried to call the dog but it was too late. We just heard him whimpering and then everything went silent.' She told how the family then stood out on the road, and watched on as their home burned to the ground. Mr Curran recalled his own perspective, waking up in the sitting room to breaking glass and seeing a line of fire right in front of him. ADVERTISEMENT "It was like waking up in hell… I don't know how I didn't go on fire. All I done was I started screaming, 'Breda, Breda, Breda.' "The thought came into my head, 'what did I do', I thought I was after falling asleep, did I do something to cause this? "This is evil that came to our house,' Mr Curran said. The Ballyfermot couple said being from old stock themselves, they did not have their home insured and would have felt a 'little bit more secure' if it had been. "I don't know if I can even come back here. I don't know if I would feel safe here. I just feel totally different now. I loved me home,' Ms Curran said. She told how she does shift work and would come home, clean up, have a shower and feed the dog. The couple said they don't drink or smoke, and spend their time watching Netflix in the evening. 'All I can think now is, what was all that for? It's gone,' Ms Curran said. They thanked their neighbours, who, since the attack, have been coming over and empathising and even handed the couple money in envelopes. "Strangers come up to us often,' Mr Curran said. 'I have to say, the community spirit in Ballyfermot, it is never talked about. But the respect, compassion, goodwill that is after coming from this community is something to be admired and it keeps me going.'
Sunday World
26-05-2025
- Sunday World
Family dog killed and two people injured as Dublin gang firebombs wrong house
Two hospitalised after blunder by feuding thugs Two people were hospitalised and a family dog killed after reckless criminals firebombed the wrong house as part of an escalating Dublin feud. The innocent family's home was targeted in an early morning attack in Ballyfermot, causing extensive damage. Detectives believe it was carried out as part of a worsening city feud involving a young drug dealer and junior associates of mobster Brian Rattigan. There has been a spate of assaults and petrol bombings in recent weeks while one property was also shot up last year. Brian Rattigan is not suspected by gardaí of any direct involvement in the gang feud which is believed to be connected to the petrol bombing An investigation is under way into the latest incident which happened at around 2.30am last Wednesday. Emergency services including Dublin Fire Brigade, paramedics and gardaí were alerted and two people taken to hospital as a precaution. Extensive damage was caused by a suspected petrol bomb and the family dog was killed. The lads who were sent out to petrol bomb their target clearly got the wrong house The residents who live at the property have no involvement in criminality and gardaí are satisfied the perpetrators targeted the wrong home. A source said: 'This is a decent family who have absolutely no involvement in what has been going on. The lads who were sent out to petrol bomb their target clearly got the wrong house. 'It shows the calibre of people involved in this feuding and how easily completely innocent people can get caught up in this'. No arrests have been made. Stock photo News in 90 Seconds - May 26th 2025 A Garda spokesperson confirmed that an investigation into the incident of criminal damage by fire is under way. The Sunday World previously revealed how a partner of one of the feuding criminals was also warned by her boyfriend's rivals that she would be burnt out of her home. A drug dealer in his 20s is centrally involved in the dispute and was the victim of a violent attack Her partner, a drug dealer aged in his 20s, is centrally involved in the dispute and was the victim of a violent attack in the city centre recently. He was beaten over the head with weapons and also stabbed while receiving a bad slash wound to his face. His family home was also shot at in May of last year while his home and car were smashed up days before the assault on him. Days after that attack a series of co-ordinated petrol bomb attacks linked to the dispute were carried out in Drimnagh and Kildare. Gardaí believe two brothers, who are in their early 20s and junior associates of convicted killer Rattigan, are leading the feud against the young drug dealer. Rattigan led a gang involved in the deadly Crumlin/Drimnagh feud They were previously part of the same drugs gang but last year fell out in a row over drugs as well as a personal dispute over a woman. Rattigan led a gang involved in the deadly Crumlin/Drimnagh feud which claimed more than a dozen lives in the 2000s. He has served lengthy jail terms for drug offences and manslaughter. The mobster is not suspected of playing any direct role in the feud but gardaí believe he still has a key role in criminality in the area.
