A file is to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions on the destruction last week of rare and valuable stained glass windows in a Dundalk church. Gardai have questioned three men about the incident and charges are expected to follow. The large panels of Netherlandish stained glass behind the altar in St Nicholas's Church of Ireland in Dundalk were smashed by vandals who also stole 11 bottles of altar wine.
Speaking of the vandalism images contained on each of the broken panes. The panels were donated to the church in 1812 by a local landowner, Lord Roden.
The church benefited from a £200,000 restoration programme two years ago, a third of which was raised locally. Already, fund-raising events are being organised to pay for the restoration of the windows. The parochial secretary and local historian, Mr Noel Ross, said the windows had been in the church "for nearly two centuries and are probably irreplaceable. We have had dozens of offers of assistance."