Fine Gael election hopeful’s office trashed by vandals
A FINE Gael election candidate’s Cork office has been trashed by vandals – days after hundreds of his election posters went missing.
Senator Colm Burke, who is standing for Fine Gael in Cork North Central, had bricks thrown through the windows of his Blackpool office on Sunday evening.
Mr Burke said around 250 of his election posters had also been removed earlier in the week. The party’s Seanad spokesperson on health told the Irish Daily Mail he had been in politics for a quarter of a
‘We shouldn’t have to face this’
century and had never before experienced such attacks.
‘I got a phone call from one of the businesses next door to me and they said two young lads had come and said someone had smashed the window,’ he said.
‘I got to the office about 8.30pm and bricks and stones had been thrown through the window and two panes of glass had been smashed.
‘My posters had also disappeared within 12 hours of being put up.
‘I had phone calls from people saying they had seen two people with a ladder taking them down.’
He said he was shocked at the targeting of his campaign.
‘I would hope people could respect every candidate that’s running – not many people are prepared to put their head above the parapet,’ he said.
‘We should all be standing together and we can make sure that this is rooted out.’
Both the vandalism and the removal of his posters have been reported to the gardaí, Mr Burke added.
He posted pictures of the damage on Twitter on Sunday night, and explained this was not the first time his campaign had been targeted this week.
He wrote: ‘Bricks fired through the window in my office in Blackpool this evening.
‘It has been a difficult few days with over 250 posters taken down.
‘No candidate or their staff should have to face this, but my campaign and I won’t be intimidated or deterred.’
In response, Tánaiste and Cork TD Simon Coveney tweeted: ‘Stay strong @SenColmBurke, don’t be intimidated by this kind of thuggery. @FineGael is a party that represents everyone, from all walks of life, we listen to frustrations & criticism and respond as best we can.
‘But this should not be part of elections or politics.’
Mr Burke said he had no evidence that the vandalism was political and that he did not know who was involved.
He said he was not deterred by the events of the past week and intended to ‘keep working away’ on his campaign. He added: ‘We all have tempers but most people can get along although they may disagree.’
Mr Burke said he had received messages of support from a number of his fellow election candidates. Councillor Ken O’Flynn, who is running as an Independent in Cork North Central, wrote on Twitter: ‘No politician should be subjected to this type of terror.’