Councillor's son arrested over Fine Gael website hack

The teenage son of an independent councillor in County Offaly has been arrested along with another man in his late teens over the hacking attack on the Fine Gael website earlier this year.

Donncha Carroll (18), son of Offaly councillor John Carroll, was taken into custody by gardai after a raid on the family home.

Carroll completed his Leaving Certificate this summer and is believed to be an IT wizard with a keen interest in designing websites – and allegedly hacking them also.

The man in Galway was also nabbed by gardai during a simultaneous raid on his home.

Digital media devices were seized at both homes but chemicals used to produce illegal drugs, possibly ecstasy, were also taken from the Carroll household near Birr.

The two were taken to Tullamore and Galway garda stations for questioning about alleged criminal damage.

The garda investigation has been underway since January after the Fine Gael website was hacked and access was gained to the contact details of 2,000 subscribers.

The attacked was accredited to the ‘Anonymous’ group at the time while gardai were assisted by the FBI in tracking down the cyber criminals.