A gentleman in his 40s has been taken into custody by Irish police in relation to two suspected episodes of arson at an uninhabited dwelling in Leixlip, County Kildare, which was incorrectly suspected to be allocated for asylum seeker housing earlier this year. The law enforcement apprehended the man on a Tuesday morning and he is now retained at a County Kildare police station under the auspices of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.
The residential property, a bungalow located on Celbridge Road, was set ablaze in the early dawn of February 7th, following an earlier occurrence of malicious damage towards the end of January. During February’s incident, police were keeping an eye on the bungalow based on incorrect whispers it was planned to provide asylum seeker housing. The Department of Integration certified the rumours, which were locally and online disseminated, as untrue.
The residential property, a private 5,000 sq ft dwelling recognized as Honeywood, was bought for €1.06 million in May 2022.