Nally activists campaign for armed rural response unit

CAMPAIGNERS seeking the release of jailed Mayo farmer Padraig Nally have called for the deployment of armed rapid response units all over rural Ireland to stop attacks by gangs on people living in isolated areas.

As Mr Nally’s legal team prepare to make an application on December 5 for his case to be appealed on the basis of severity of sentence, one of the organisers of the campaign to have him freed says they have been astonished by the response.

“This is no longer just a west of Ireland issue. It is a national one. We have received hundreds and hundreds of gestures of support,” Mr Paddy Rock said.

But Mr Rock said the group were not advocating or condoning violence or people taking the law into their own hands.

“Our group was set up to object to the length of the custodial sentence imposed on Padraig and to seek a meeting with the Minister for Justice for changes in legislation so people have the right to go to bed at night and not be worried that intruder will come in the middle of the night and attack them,” he said.

His comments came as Traveller leaders said they have been demonised and condemned due to the fallout from the sentencing of Mr Nally. Martin Collins, assistant director of Pavee Point Travellers’ Centre, said that the past two weeks had set the work of the community back five years.

“We, as a community, have endured a lot over the last couple of weeks. I would say there has been a systematic targeted attack on us. We have been vilified, demonised and condemned by some sections of the media, and indeed by some sections of the public and by some politicians.”

Mr Rock said that there should be rapid response units in all parts of the country so that people who feel under threat can call on assistance immediately.

“We have army menaround the country who could augment the gardai.”

He added that the campaigners were not trying to condone Padraig Nally’s action in re-loading and shooting Mr Ward a second time as he was in retreat.

“Padraig knows more than anyone else that what he did was wrong but he had to make a split-second decision.

“Remember that Mr Ward was 21 years Padraig Nally’s junior. Everyone agrees that the issue of when he shot him the second time was wrong but his fear was at such a level and he didn’t know how many people were out there. I hope to God I never have to make a decision like that.

“This campaign is not antiTraveller. Everyone has nothing but sympathy for Mrs Ward and her children for their loss coming up to Christmas.”

In the Dail Justice Minister Michael McDowell moved to quell political support for Mr Nally’s early release.

“Nobody in this House will suggest that a person, having shot and beaten another, should be at liberty to return to a shed, reload his or her weapon, hunt down the other person and finish him or her off. Nobody will suggest that such action should not constitute an offence. I take it that there is unanimity in the House on that issue,” the Minister said.