TWO PEOPLE HAVE been charged in connection with the firebomb attack on a family home in Ballyfermot, Dublin last month.

A man in his 20s and a juvenile in his teens were arrested and charged with criminal damage by fire.

Both are due to appear in court tomorrow morning.

The attack targeted the Curran family’s residence on Landen Road in the early hours, leaving the house destroyed and their dog killed.

Speaking to reporters after the attack, resident Pat Curran said that he was asleep in the sitting room when the petrol bomb was thrown through the window.

He told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that the incident was like “waking up in hell”.

“I had a blanket on me and I threw it on the fire and tried to stamp it out. I don’t know how I didn’t go on fire,” he said.

Pat managed to wake his wife Breda and their son Luke, allowing them to escape before the fire engulfed the house.

A petrol bomb was thrown through the window of the front room on 21 May.

Breda described the traumatic experience of trying to rescue their dog amid intense heat and flames.

“I tried to go back into the sitting room, and Luke was helping me to try and get our dog, because we knew he hadn’t come out, so we were calling his name, but the heat wouldn’t let us back in,” Breda said.

“When I went as far as the hallway to the sitting room door, the fire was everywhere.”

An emotional Breda told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland: “I said, we can’t go in there – we’ll die. We tried to call the dog, but it was too late. Then we just heard him whimpering, and we didn’t hear anything else after that.

“Then everything just went silent, except for the fire.”

The family had no insurance on the property and have been left to face the costs themselves.

Despite the tragedy, the Currans have praised the support from neighbours and the wider Ballyfermot community, who have offered assistance.

Gardaí continue to investigate the incident, which they believe was a case of mistaken identity.