Returned emig rant in dispute over land*

* We know it’s The Field’s script but this is real (and in Kerry)

THE language used in a bitter row over land rights in Kerry is nothing like John B Keane’s, but the plot is straight out of The Field.

It all stems from a tense dispute to go before Listowel District Court later this month, featuring a returned emigrant who is a local boy made good, in a dispute over land – and a vile, abusive anonymous letter.

The court case will centre on the row between builder Mike McElligott and Tarbert GAA over a right of access to land where he owns some properties.

Tensions were already high but then the row turned really nasty, leaving the builder fearful about spending a night out in the Kerry village, famous for its car ferry port. The 54-year-old has revealed that he was sent a vicious letter some weeks ago, which gardaí are now investigating.

The stream of consciousness missive tells him to ‘F*** off back

‘They don’t want to see a local guy making good’

to the USA’, and states: ‘We don’t need a bo***x like you around, you will be hounded out, we do not want c***s like you around’. It is badly written, full of vitriol and full of foul language.

It was signed – ‘From all the people of Tarbert Parish.’

While Mr McElligott’s dispute is with the Tarbert GAA, there is no suggestion that the letter writer had any connection with the club.

The row has become so bitter that some locals are comparing it to the plot of Listowel playwright John B Keane’s The Field, which was made into a film starring Richard Harris.

The builder, who is originally from Tarbert but lived for over three decades in New York, has decided to speak out about the abuse he has received.

He said: ‘Gardaí are investigating the letter that was sent. To be honest, I consider whoever wrote it a sick person, but I have decided to go public to try and bring an end to what has been going on.

‘There have been other letters as well, various complaints have been made about different things, it’s nasty,’ he added.

‘We have had Kerry and Irish flags taken from outside my office, road signs in relation to our work have been torn down, it’s been nasty.

‘I mean, to open a letter like that and start to read it without having any idea what was in it was not nice.’

However, he said he is not putting the blame on the local people.

The builder explained: ‘Look, Tarbert is a lovely village, it always was. It’s a great place to bring up a family and 99% of the people here are beautiful, but I guess like every other village it has two or three that – for want of a better word – I would call begrudgers.

‘They don’t like to see a local guy making good,’ he said.

‘I’m a hard-working guy still, I work from 5.30am to 7pm five or six days a week, I have 20 people employed in my construction company, and I supply accommodation for 26 others who live around Tarbert and spend their money there, but that doesn’t seem to matter.

‘I’m actually afraid to go down to my property now, I feel so threatened and intimidated by the whole thing,’ he said. ‘We don’t socialise in Tarbert any more either, I’d be afraid that it would lead to an altercation with someone.’

Asked by the Irish Mail on Sunday for a comment on the forthcoming legal case in Listowel court, Tarbert GAA club would not comment.