Arson Attacks on Council Homes Soar: 35 in Dublin in 2025, €5M Damages

Arson attacks, often involving petrol bombs, on council homes have significantly increased, with 35 incidents recorded in Dublin alone in 2025. These attacks, frequently linked to drug debt intimidation or gang feuds, are traumatizing communities and costing local authorities millions of euros.

Of 31 local authorities, 24 responded to inquiries, revealing 14 had records of 113 fire attacks on homes over the last five years. This includes all four Dublin councils, Limerick, Galway, Mayo, Wicklow, Roscommon, and Monaghan. The total repair and refurbishment cost for firebombed council homes since 2022 is almost €5 million, with 35 households rehoused. Nearly half of these attacks, 50, occurred last year. Dublin councils were the worst affected, experiencing 59 attacks since 2022, 35 of which were last year, costing €2.95 million in repairs and rehousing at least 18 households.

Mick Clarke, head of Dublin City Council’s antisocial behaviour division, described the rise as «the new epidemic» in March. South Dublin County Council suffered 30 attacks in five years, 10 last year, costing €997,000. Fingal had 27 attacks (12 last year), Dublin city 23 (13 last year), and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown one in 2024. Other incidents include a petrol bomb attack in Edenderry, Co Offaly, in December 2025, which killed four-year-old Tadhg Farrell and his 60-year-old great-aunt, Mary Holt. A recent attack in Ballymun, Dublin, involved a car reversed into a house and set alight, damaging a gas main and injuring a teenage girl.

Housing Minister James Browne expressed concern, calling such actions illegal, intimidating, and «obscene» amidst a housing crisis. He welcomed Dublin City Council's tracking of these incidents and urged all councils to do the same for accurate data.