Gardaí have begun an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the daubing of graffiti on pillars at the entrance to the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin's residence at the week-end.
The residence or archbishop's palace in Drumcondra on Dublin's northside is home to Cardinal Connell. It is understood, however, he was not in residence at the time. The graffiti were discovered on Saturday morning and were reported to gardaí at Fitzgibbon Street station at 9 a.m. "The detective unit there is investigating," a Garda spokesman said.
It appears a can of red spray paint was used to daub "666" on a number of the pillars at the palace.
The numbers were also sprayed, in red paint, on the walls of a church at Merchant's Quay on Dublin's southside.
A source at the church said she understood the numbers were painted on the church wall late on Saturday night or in the early hours of yesterday morning.
"It's the sign of the beast in the Book of Revelations. It was the sign that the Anti-Christ would bear," she said, adding: "It's horror movie stuff".
Another source at the church, who didn't want to be named, said: "It'a a bit sad really. Somebody wants to make a statement. It's only giving it a certain credence by commenting on it".
The communications officer for the Dublin archdiocese, Mr Damien McNeice, said he hadn't seen the graffiti and therefore wasn't prepared to comment on them. "Any sort of large public building is prone to getting graffiti," he added.
Cardinal Connell has been subjected to serious criticism for the manner in which he dealt with allegations of abuse against clergy in his archdiocese and also for the manner in which he treated victims making those allegations.
It is not known, however, whether or not this may have caused his residence to be targeted in this way.