Magician and hypnotist Keith Barry has hit out at the levels of rural crime in Ireland.

It follows his own experience of it - his grandfather died after being attacked during a break-in in Waterford in 2009.

Older people in particular say that they live in fear of rural crime, with some telling gardaí that they sleep with guns at night to feel safer.

In their efforts to crack down on rural crime, gardaí have launched Operation Thor - targeting organised crime gangs and repeat offenders.

As part of a €5.3m investment, gardaí are also being provided with more high-powered vehicles, marked and unmarked patrol cars, cars for surveillance and covert operations, motorcycles and vehicles for public order policing.

Keith Barry says that garda resources are stretched in rural Ireland - and it is tough for those living in fear and the families of victims.

Speaking on the Colette Fitzpatrick Show this morning about his grandfather's death, Keith said "for us you kind of have to put it to the back of your mind, because it will just eat you away.

"At the end of the day you believe your grandfather was pretty much murdered in his own house. You can dress it up anyway you want - you can say it was a burglary gone wrong, but it's a load of nonsense," he added. 

He says the case has gone cold, and does not see gardaí giving the case the 'due diligence'. "There's no evidence there at all on any level to believe he was hiding from intruders," he explained. "He definitely was assaulted, 100% assaulted".

Keith made the comments during an in-depth interview, in which he talked about everything from rural crime to Nicole Scherzinger and his work on the film Now You See Me and its upcoming sequel.

You can listen back to the full podcast below: