Attack on McDowell house is widely condemned

Gardaí have said there was no evidence of paramilitary involvement in the shooting incident over the weekend at the holiday home…

Gardaí have said there was no evidence of paramilitary involvement in the shooting incident over the weekend at the holiday home in Co Roscommon of the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell.

They were yesterday continuing their investigations into the gun attack on the house in Lavagh, near Roosky.

A shotgun was discharged through the glass double doors of the property which is still under construction.

The Department of Justice declined to comment on the incident yesterday.

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A Garda spokeswoman said she was unaware of "an emergency round of conferences" which the Garda Commissioner, Mr Noel Conroy, was reported to have held with senior officers about the incident.

The attack on the Minister's holiday home was condemned yesterday by politicians in Co Roscommon and in the Dáil.

The Mayor of Roscommon, Mr Seán Beirne (FG), said Mr McDowell was "very welcome" to build a house in the county. He was "disappointed and annoyed that the county of Roscommon would be associated with anything like that".

Despite Roscommon County Council's high-profile dispute with Mr McDowell over planning for the house, Mr Beirne was adamant that the Minister would be welcomed.

"We are honoured that the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, has a house in Roscommon, and we are very happy that Michael McDowell chose the Roosky area of Roscommon to have a holiday home.

"I have had the privilege of representing the Roosky area for the past 20 years, and the people of that area are hard-working, warm people, who would have no time for any acts of vandalism such as happened at the weekend.

"I understand that the gardaí have ruled out any paramilitary involvement, which is a great relief. But no matter what happened, it wasn't nice. Hopefully it was only someone messing, nothing more serious than that."

The attack was condemned as "scandalous" by the Opposition.

Mr Joe Costello of the Labour Party said: "The Minister is quite a controversial figure, but to threaten his safety and his privacy is a very serious matter."