Updated 2.32pm
THE ENVIRONMENT MINISTER’S constituency office was the subject of a bomb threat this morning.
An assistant at Alan Kelly’s office in Nenagh, Co Tipperary took a call shortly after 9am this morning during which a bomb threat was made.
A statement from the minister said that the call was “of a menacing and threatening nature”.
Gardaí were notified and the female staff member who dealt with the call was interviewed and made a statement to detectives who are now investigating.
Kelly said this morning: “This was a very traumatic and upsetting experience for all staff and the matter has been referred to the Gardaí. I condemn this deplorable behaviour,”
Kelly is tasked with overseeing Irish Water and is expected to make an announcement on a new charges on Wednesday.
Gardaí had not confirmed any contact and the Defence Forces said that they had not received a call out.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Keelin Shanley, Kelly’s Labour party colleague Aodhán Ó Ríordáin revealed that he had also been subject to “bullet threats”, urging those involved to “take a step back”.
“This is not how we construct a society. My staff and people who work for public representatives don’t deserve that,” he said.
“What happened this morning to Alan Kelly, what has happened in my office, what happened on Saturday is not democratic protest. It is mob rule.
“People are entitled to protest – but there is a line and it has been crossed.”
Super junior minister Ged Nash said the threat to his Labour colleague Kelly’s office have “no place in a democratic society” and said that any such threats should be brought to the attention of the gardaí.
“Some of the activities we’ve seen over the last few days have crossed the rubicon,” Nash told reporters in Dublin today.
Earlier, the Children’s Minister James Reilly said he was not worried for his own personal safety despite events in recent days.
He noted that he received threats to burn down his house with his wife in it during the debate on the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill last year.
However, Reilly did say that there had been some “sinister developments” with the protests in recent weeks.
Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said that security arrangements for ministers are kept under ongoing review.
- additional reporting from Hugh O’Connell and Peter Bodkin
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