Five arrested for causing disturbance and found with weapons at Letterkenny church

Five men arrested having been found with weapons following a serious disturbance at a Letterkenny church will be at a special sitting of  Letterkenny District Court on Monday.

The group were arrested following a public order incident between groups at the Church of the Irish Martyrs in Ballyraine at 11:30am. The five men are in custody at local Garda stations. 

“Gardaí in Letterkenny are investigating a number of incidents of public order that occurred at Ballyraine, Letterkenny, this morning Sunday 18th August, 2024, at approximately 11.30am, “ a Garda spokesperson said this evening.

“Five men, aged in their 60s and 30s, were arrested in relation to the public order offences and a number of weapons were seized at the scene. All five men have been charged in relation to the incidents and investigations ongoing.”

A massive Garda presence was required at the church, where an anniversary mass was taking place, with the armed response unit on response and at last half-a-dozen Garda cars.

Bickering began in the porch of the chapel, which then spilt inside as Fr Dominic Thoomkuzhy was about to start to Gospel. The group dispersed outside into the carpark, where there was a significant Garda presence outside as well as some in the church, who in turn broke the feuding parties into fractions and held them for some time. 

Inside, parishioners sat in fear as the mass was temporarily postponed for over five minutes before swiftly concluding, with those in attendance asked to stay inside for 10 minutes afterwards.