Elderly living in fear of video-fuelled street fights
AONTÚ CANDIDATE WARNS OF SCENES IN CAUSEWAY AND BALLYDUFF PARISH FUELLED BY ‘CALL-OUT’ VIDEOS
ELDERLY people were left terrified by street fighting outside their homes in a North Kerry parish that one election candidate claims is being ‘ targeted’ as a location for violent encounters – stoked by ‘call-out’ videos circulating widely on social media.
The claims came from Aontú general election candidate Sonny Foran, who said he has been contacted by numerous people in his home parish of Causeway and Ballyduff over the vicious fighting.
He insisted the claims are not part of his electioneering strategy, but as the result of a very real threat to the peace locally that happens to coincide with the election launch.
“There was a recent fight in Causeway that was witnessed by elderly people who were left terrified by the sight...it seems these people are coming into our parish as it is quiet, out of the way, and fighting in areas where there would be many elderly people living.”
“This is an outrageous situation. This is coupled with the intimidation of families in Ballyduff and threats being issued by lurcher dog owners to farmers in Ballyheigue”.
He said he fears the behaviour escalating into even more violent scenes.
LIVING in Ireland, even the best plans are at the whim of Mother Nature, as was reaffirmed for the organisers of the annual Jimmy Duffy Memorial Cycle on Saturday morning.
The event keeps alive the memory of St Pat’s GAA stalwart and much-loved local character Jimmy Duffy, who was 67-years-old when he tragically passed away as a result of smoke inhalation in a fire in his home in Blennerville in 2010.
A very popular event, the 2020 version was initially cancelled on Saturday morning due to safety concerns caused by the weather.
It is believed that due to insurance reasons, the event could not be rescheduled to another day, so organisers decided to hold a scaled-back version later that same afternoon.
Kudos to all those hardy cyclists who braved the cycle in the afternoon as they set off to Castleisland and back again. The weary and grateful bunch were treated to a bevy of tea and refreshments in the club afterwards as Jimmy was remembered with great affection.