Nurse escapes terrifying arson bid

An Aontú representative has been targeted by loyalists after her car was set alight in Newry on Wednesday morning in a shocking hate crime.

Local election candidate and pediatric nurse Sharon Loughran was lucky to escape uninjured as flames consumed the side of her house, which was also daubed with sectarian graffiti.

“I am still trying to process what happened,” Ms. Loughran said.

“Just after 3 am, I awoke to the smell and sound of an inferno beside my house. I looked out the window to see my car parked in my driveway consumed by flames. The heat was so intense that the fascia, pipes, electrics, and windows of my house have all been damaged by melting. My house is significantly damaged. I don’t have electricity and can’t use the water.

“This was a horrendous action that could have easily set my house on fire as well. The arsonist that set this fire could have killed me. That this would happen to anyone in 2023 is incredible.”

The incident happened in the early hours following July 11 loyalist bonfires across Northern Ireland on the eve of Orange Order marches.

Such arson attacks have been a feature of ‘Eleventh Night’ terror attacks in the past as loyalist paramilitary gangs redeploy bonfire petrol to target Catholics. The most devastating of these attacks took place 25 years ago when three children, brothers Jason (8), Mark (9), and Richard Quinn (10), died in an arson attack on their home in Ballymoney.

“I cannot for the life of me understand why they are targeting me,” said Ms. Loughran. “I had no involvement in politics before joining Aontú. I am a pediatric nurse at Daisy Hill Hospital. I love my job, and I am delighted to work for both communities.

“The only reason I got involved in politics was to stop the closure of key services in Daisy Hill Hospital, and Aontú is very active on hospital campaigns around the country.”

Her home was daubed with sectarian paramilitary graffiti during the local elections, but this is a radical escalation of that intimidation, she said.

She said Aontú, as a four-year-old party, has no history or baggage from the past, and she cannot understand why she was targeted.

The party was set up in 2019 on an all-island basis by former Sinn Féin TD Peadar Tóibín and has both Catholic and Protestant members.

“I am calling on the PSNI to provide the necessary protection so that people like me can go about our lives without living in fear. I am also calling on community leaders in Newry to use their influence to stop this shocking violence on the 12th of July. I want to continue to work for my community. I have a human right to do so in peace.”

Urgent Appeal