The office of a Catholic pressure group within the Republic of Ireland has been the victim of a “malicious” anthrax scare.
The Iona Institute, which campaigns in favour of the standard married family and the best to life, was sent a package containing large amounts of white powder.
The package also contained a letter which read: ‘Happy Anthrax. To David Quinn and Bit*h O’Brien’.
Quinn is the founder and director of the institute, while “O’Brien” is believed to be a reference to Breda O’Brien, a columnist at The Irish Times who also acts as a spokesman for The Iona Institute.
Quinn said that it was him who opened the package and that the white powder spilled onto his hands. A researcher at Iona, Angelo Bottone was also exposed to the powder.
Two law enforcement officials attended the scene, the constructing was closed and the road cordoned off. A bomb disposal unit from the military was called in for several hours.
Although no explicit motive was stated by the sender, Quinn said it was almost definitely anti-Catholic prejudice as he and O’Brien are mostly known for his or her writing on Catholic issues.
Quinn stated, “Down the years, our office has received quite a lot of hate mail and we’ve got sometimes received physical threats as well. This tends to occur essentially the most when there may be an eruption of public anger on the Church over the scandals, or when a serious social issue referendum is on.
“The hate mail is nearly all the time anti-Catholic. From time to time, I even have been verbally attacked on the road and on one occasion in a city centre pub where I used to be drinking with friends.”
Despite the threats, Quinn said he and The Iona Institute would proceed with its work undeterred.
