Priest who condemned Quinn attack thugs gets home security system

Fr Ollie ‘at risk’ after speaking out over vicious assault gang

THE priest who publicly condemned the barbaric assault on a director of Quinn Industrial Holdings has installed a home security system, it was revealed yesterday.

Fr Oliver O’reilly – known as Fr Ollie to his parishioners in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan – is upgrading his personal security because he fears his outspoken condemnation has put him at risk.

Last month, he spoke out against the intimidation and violence suffered by the directors of QIH.

He blamed a “mafia-style group” for the assault on director Kevin Lunney, who was abducted and savagely beaten outside his home in Co Fermanagh in September.

During a homily at Our Lady of Lourdes Church following the assault, Fr O’reilly described Mr Lunney’s attackers as an “obvious cancer of evil in our midst that needs to be exorcised before someone is murdered”.

Following the attack, Mr Lunney was found on the roadside and rushed to hospital, where he was treated for life-changing injuries. He continues to recover, and it is unclear whether he will be well enough to attend a meeting between the QIH directors and the head of the Irish police tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Fr O’reilly said he will not be making any further public comment on the matter, unless there is another act of violence or intimidation.

He told the Sunday Independent: “The more you speak out, the more you put yourself at risk.

“I find in the last month, a whole lot of things have happened. I want to take a back seat for a while. If there is further intimidation, I intend to return to the fray.”

The cleric’s words come on foot of a “final” death threat against the five QIH directors, who include Tony Lunney, Liam Mccaffrey, Dara O’reilly and John Mccartin, along with Kevin Lunney.

Last Tuesday, the news emerged they had received their “last warning”.

The letter containing the threat was delivered to a Belfast newspaper, and the contents were relayed to them by police.

The anonymous authors of the letter warn the QIH directors if they wanted “we could have killed Kevin [Lunney] very easily”.

It added: “Directors of QIH were given a mandate to hold the company in safe hands for the Quinn family until a position was put in place to buy it back. The community won’t stand by any longer and see it continue in its current projectory.”

The threats and attack on Mr Lunney were both condemned by former Quinn boss Sean Quinn.

SUNDAY INDEPENDENT INTIMIDATION