Family evicted from Strokestown farmhouse returns home

The family at the centre of the Roscommon eviction incident last week have returned to their home in Falsk, near Strokestown.

The eviction, which took place on Tuesday, December 12 last, has sparked outrage across the country and attracted the attention of the national media, following vigilante action at the house in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The attack on the house resulted in the injury of eight members of a security team that was occupying the property at the time, as well as the burning out of a number of vehicles and serious injury to a dog, which had to be put down afterwards.

Longford woman, Anna Kavanagh, who was at the house in Strokestown the night the family returned home has said that some of the rumours on social media - such as men standing outside the house armed with baseball bats - were “absolute nonsense and tripe”.

“What was there were farmers from Co Roscommon, from Leitrim, Donegal, from Monaghan, Mayo, Longford, Offaly... that came here to stand in solidarity with this family and express their outrage about what happened to them,” she explained.

The family is reported to be “traumatised” by the incident and have asked to be left in peace so that they can move on with their lives.

In response to the incident, Roscommon Fianna Fáíl TD and Strokestown native Eugene Murphy has said that the way evictions are handled needs to be revised.

"Any heavy-handed attempts to pursue people and put them out of their homes should be taken out of the equation altogether,” he said.

WATCH | Longford woman returns to Strokestown where three evicted residents have just returned home