SF's Pearse Doherty and family have lucky escape as car catches fire
Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty and his family had a lucky escape after their car went on fire just moments after they got out of it.
The Donegal politician had just arrived home from the Dáil when the family car caught fire outside their home in Gaoth Dobhair.
Deputy Doherty's wife Róisín and their sons had left their car just 10 minutes before it caught fire outside their home.
Deputy Doherty could only watch as the car was engulfed in flames.
He is now urging people not to leave their children unattended in cars after the near miss.
He said: "This was a big, big lesson for everyone...Don’t leave children unaccompanied in cars - even a few minutes can kill."
Not malicious
The cause of the fire was not malicious, stressed Deputy Doherty, who shared a video of the blazing car on his personal Facebook page, here.
He also thanked the Gweedore Fire Service who attended the scene and brought the blaze under control.
He wrote: "Not the scene I was expecting to greet me when I landed home from the Dáil last night. Thank god no one injured.
"Róisín and the boys were out of the car and in the house for about 10 mins at this stage.
"Big shout out to all the team in the Gaoth Dobhair Fire Brigade, excellent considerate and thorough."
Despite his lucky escape, Deputy Doherty, who is leading a campaign against the cost of car insurance, said he was now facing his own battle with his insurance company after the car fire on Thursday night.
"Three calls later and insurance company still hasn’t returned the call. Says it all!!!," he wrote.
Sinn Féin Finance spokesperson @PearseDoherty has called out the insurance industry for magnifying the scale of the issue of fraudulent claims in order to justify their high premiums and increases. pic.twitter.com/jaR5kH2dFr
— Sinn Féin (@sinnfeinireland) July 5, 2019
