Gardaí have arrested two men for questioning about a petrol bomb attack in Cork which forced an elderly couple to move out of their home after it was gutted in the blaze.
The two men in their 30s were arrested in Dublin on Tuesday afternoon for questioning about the petrol bomb attack on the detached bungalow at Kilcully, just outside Cork City, on April 24th.
The couple were at home at their house at Ballincrokig near Kilcully cemetery at around 9pm on the day in question, when two masked men threw a petrol bomb into the house. The petrol bomb ignited on impact and caused extensive damage to the house, but the 88-year-old man and his 84-year-old wife fled the blazing building.
The emergency services were alerted and the couple were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene, but were otherwise uninjured although they were extremely distressed and upset.
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Gardaí said at the time they were keeping an open mind on a possible motive for the attack but were satisfied it was a case of mistaken identity and the arsonists targeted the wrong house.
Gardaí began harvesting CCTV footage from homes and commercial premises in the general Kilcully area in a bid to identify the two men responsible for the arson attack.
On Tuesday, gardaí arrested two men at different addresses in Dublin 7 on suspicion of committing arson on the house in Kilcully and brought them to Cork for questioning.
The two men are being questioned at Gurranabraher and Mayfield Garda stations, where they are being detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and can be held for 24 hours.
Gardaí also seized a car at an address in Dublin and brought it to Cork for a forensic examination.
Det Supt Mick Comyns said that gardaí were treating the incident as extremely serious and were appealing to anyone who could assist them to contact gardaí at Mayfield Garda station.
“This was a very serious incident – an elderly couple have been forced to move out of their house it was so badly damaged but it could have had even more serious consequences.”
