by politics.co.uk staff

Ireland's regional development minister has suffered an arson attack at his home in Camlough.

Conor Murphy managed to evacuate his wife and children and his wife's elderly parents, who lived next door, when the attack occurred around 01:00 BST this morning.

Mr Murphy blamed dissident groups for the attack.

"We had to evacuate our own kids out of our house, down to neighbour's houses, in case the cars actually exploded while they were burning," he said.

"They were all fairly traumatised by the whole experience.

"There was some damage to both houses but the fire brigade managed to get the fires out before the houses caught fire."

He continued: "The reality is the people who sneaked into my yard last night and traumatised my kids, my parents-in-law, my wife haven't offered any explanation as to who they are or what they're about.

"It is incumbent on them to do so and let people decide whether they offer a better way forward.

"Until such times as these people come out from under cover of darkness we can't actually ascertain who they are or what their motives are."

Police are considering the incident as malicious, and have cordoned off the area and called for witnesses.