Óglaigh na h’Éireann claim gun attack
Óglaigh na h’Éireann have claimed responsibility for Tuesday night’s shooting in the Cornshell Fields area of the city.
The dissident republican group said its volunteers were behind the gun attack and said they went to the house to order the occupant, Sean Healy, out of the country.
Mr Healy was not at home at the time of the incident at 10.30pm on Tuesday and the two masked gunmen entered the house and asked his children – aged 13 and 16 years-old – where their father was.
When they discovered he was not at home, the gunmen fired a number of shots through the windows of a car and horse transporter parked outside the house.
Mr Healy’s mother, Moya, said her grandchildren were terrified by the gunmen. “They scared the living daylights out of the children. They were terrified,” she said.
However, in a call to the ‘Journal,’ a spokesperson for Óglaigh na h’Éireann, denied claims that the children were threatened at gunpoint. “We would like to emphasise that, contrary to media reports, at no point were guns held to the heads of children or any threats made to children. We apologise for any trauma that may have been caused to any member of his family.,” the spokesperson said.
The group also said it did not intend to shoot Mr Healy. “Our volunteers went to his home to tell him to leave the country. We stand by our decision to put him into exile,” the group said.
The dissident group also made specific allegations about the Cornshell Fields man.
Mrs Healy said she did not know why her son had been targeted. “I just don’t know. I think there is something ongoing for some reason but whatever the reason is they are not coming forward,” she explained.
The shooting incident was condemned by local SDLP MLA Mary Bradley who described it as a throwback to the tactics of the IRA.
“People in this neighbourhood deserve to live in peace. It’s about time these dissidents caught themselves on and stopped evoking terror in this area,” she said.
Sinn Féin councillor Tony Hassan said people in the area do not support such attacks.
“It’s very worrying that this is the third incident in the city in recent weeks during which shots have been fired. I would like to make it clear to those responsible for Tuesday night’s shooting that the local community in Cornshell Fields do not want these actions taking place on their streets and those behind them need to stop,” he said.
