A woman just days short of her 94th birthday who was the victim of an aggravated burglary at her home in Ballintubber, County Roscommon, on Monday, has slammed those who attacked her home as “cowards”.
Una Farrell, speaking to Newstalk this morning, spoke of the terrifying ordeal she endured at the hands of at least four masked men who broke into her home in the early hours of yesterday morning. Ms Farrell was not on her own during the attack, and said that one of her sons, aged in his sixties, was there at the time along with another son, and sustained minor injuries – hurting his ribs when he was forced to the ground.
Her home is situated above Farrell’s, the newsagent shop which she owns and runs. During the disturbing incident, the attackers locked Ms Farrell and her two sons in a room while they “ransacked” the home.
A defiant Ms Farrell told Newstalk that she has already reopened the shop and is back at work following the burglary, saying that while the attack had left her “a bit traumatised”, she was determined to return to normality.
The 93-year-old said that the attackers who targeted her home were “cowards” and “filth”, adding that she refuses to live in fear or to go out of business because of their actions.
Her shop, situated on the outskirts of Roscommon town, has been in business for 65 years, and has seen just one other incident during that time.
Asked whether she anticipated the perpetrators to be brought to justice, she showed little hope: “Of course they’ll not be caught. Nobody’s ever caught [for this type of thing]”.
Castlerea Gardaí have launched an investigation into the County Roscommon attack, which could have involved up to six masked men who were reportedly armed with weapons including screwdrivers. The gang left with a “small amount of cash and some jewellery”. No arrests have been made so far. “They got enough. We will notice it anyway”, Ms Farrell said.
Roscommon Councillor Anthony Waldron said the community has been left reeling, adding that it was time to get tough on crime.
“Older people are absolutely in shock that something like this could happen in Ballintubber and I believe that more of this will happen unless we are going to get tough on crime,” he said. He also said that Ballintubber’s Garda station closed several years ago despite calls for it to be kept open.
“We were making a strong argument that it should be kept open because they were serving a very, very big area,” he said.
“When you had the local garda, they always knew what was happening on the ground and people cooperated with them and that presence is invaluable on the ground.
“I think government should take a fresh look at all of this again”, he added.
Investigators have appealed for information, and would like to speak to anyone who was in Ash Park, Ballintubber, between 10pm on Sunday and 1am on Monday.
They are particularly keen to talk to drivers who were in the area and may be able to provide dash-cam footage.