This article is from page 1 of the 2006-12-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
A PRIEST who was savagely attacked at his home in Parteen over eight years ago says he would ‘certainly’ use a gun to protect himself against criminals.
Fr Liam Kelly (71) was stabbed nine times as he lay in his bed at home, in May 1998, and says he was ‘left for dead.’ He used a hurley to fend off his attackers – two young men from Limerick – but is now considering getting a gun, as protection.
He was speaking to The Clare People in the aftermath of the Pádraig Nally trial – the Mayo farmer was last week acquitted of the killing of John ‘Frog’ Ward, after he said he was gripped by fear and believed Ward was going to burgle him.
Fr Kelly says he was glad that Nally was ‘exonerated.’
“I am all for being armed and being able to defend yourself. If a man is threatening your life, you are entitled to have a cut at him,” he said.
Asked was he considering getting a gun, he said, “I certainly am. I would certainly use it in self-defence.”
“It is important to be safe in your own home. I know a number of priests who have a gun in the house and I would consider that too. I would do what I could to defend myself. I have to go to so much trouble every night, to close up Fort Knox, putting on the locks,” he said.
Commenting on the debate on selfdefence which was central to the Nally case, he said, “There is a thin dividing line. I firmly believe you are entitled to defend yourself. At what cost, I don’t know.”
Fr Kelly, a native of Ballynanty, is now semi-retired and lives in Limerick city.
Meanwhile, Acting Chief Superintendent in Clare, John Kerin, said substantial garda resources are being deployed to rural parts of the county, with additional gardaí being allocated to Newmarket-on-Fergus, Tulla, Sixmilebridge, Lahinch and Miltown Malbay in recent weeks.
“We are rolling them out as the manpower increases. People have never seen more activity in rural areas,” he said.
He said recent increases in resources, allocated to the traffic corps and the drugs squad, regularly patrol rural parts of the county.