Gardaí investigating damage to rectory

GARDAÍ in Ennis are investigating an incident of criminal damage at the Rectory and St Columba’s Church on Bindon Street early on Wednesday morning.

Reverend Bob Hanna, who lives at the Rectory said that he and his family were awoken at approximately 6.50am on Wednesday to a loud thud at the front of their house.
When they went downstairs, they discovered that the window panel of their front door had been smashed in and there were gashes in the wooden front door.
“My daughter noticed someone running away from the hosue and saw this man get over the back wall and into the meadow behind the house,” Rev Hanna said.
They subsequently discovered that the old class brass handles on the door of the church, adjacent to the Rectory, had been smashed off. “It appeared to me that they had been smashed off with an axe. There were also gashes to the woodwork of the door of the church,” he added.
Two small windows beside the back door of the church were also broken. “It seemed like a frenetic attack. We got a bad fright. It was a shocking act and totally out of the blue,” the minister said.
Gardaí are appealing for any witnesses to the incident or anyone with relevant information to contact them at Ennis Garda Station.