•A TRAVELLER has revealed how his family are in fear for their lives after their home was burned down on Friday morning by a gang as part of a vicious feud.

Simon McDonagh said he is lucky to be alive after a traveller gang set fire to his house in Aonach on Chlair, in Clarecastle, Co. Clare, shortly before 5am. The arson attack came after masked men attacked the house armed with slash hooks, baseball bats and metal rods on Tuesday night.

Gardai have repeatedly warned that a traveller feud in Ennis, Co. Clare, is in danger of spiralling out of control after a series of violent tit-for-tat incidents over the last year. IDad-of-five Simon told the Sunday World: "The house is destroyed, we have nowhere to go. We have been in fear of our lives since all this started in July but nobody wants to help us." Gardai believe the latest round of feuding started following the breakdown of a relationship involving members of both families. There have been a number of arrests over recent months following damage to homes in the Ennis area.

Simon said his family are only alive because they did not return to the house after Tuesday's attack. "They came and smashed up the house, it is all on CCTV and I have given it to the gardai," he said. "Last month, one fella almost drove a weapon through my 19-year-old's head as he ran up the stairs with my seven -year-old in his arms trying to protect him. "After that, I said to myself I'm not going to stay in that house. The Council are not doing enough for us. We have phoned them 20 times and I think they've replied to us twice."