Traveller gang ‘runs this estate’

A Traveller gang “runs” the Dublin estate where 16-year-old Melanie McCarthy was gunned down, local community workers have claimed.

Melanie, who was due to celebrate her 17th birthday later this month, was shot dead as she sat in a parked car on Brookview Way in Brookfield, Tallaght, on Tuesday night.

Gardaí suspect the gunmen had intended to kill her 21-year-old boyfriend, Christopher Moran, who was also in the car.

Two community workers told the Irish Examiner that a Traveller gang was terrorising the Brookfield estate and they believe this gang was behind the gun attack which resulted in the death of innocent Melanie.

They said the attack was part of a turf war over control of the drugs trade in the area.

The workers would only speak on the basis their identities would be kept strictly confidential, such is the level of fear and terror in Brookfield.

They said the violence in the area had escalated in the last sixth months, with three shootings, a bomb attack and at least eight families being driven out of their homes.

“It’s a Traveller family that is running this estate,” said one worker.

“They are dictating who will live here and who won’t and if they don’t want you here they will run you out.”

The second worker said: “The [family] are terrorising this estate. They are fighting with the other Traveller family.”

This other family is linked to Melanie’s boyfriend’s family. This family in turn is related to the notorious McCarthy-Dundon crime network in Limerick.

“There is a big turf war going on at the moment and this is about who is going to win,” said one worker. They said these Traveller gangs also involved criminals from the settled community.

They said there was open drug dealing in the area — on the roads and in front gardens. They said all drugs were available and that the was a growing crack cocaine problem.

The workers said children as young as 14 were dealing, and were often armed with knives and even guns.

Decent parents of addicts or teenagers forced to store drugs often bore the brunt of intimidation, they said.

They said the main drug boss in the area regularly marched through the estate directing operations. They were highly critical of both South Dublin County Council and the gardaí.

They warned there would be revenge attacks:

“It’s not going to be today and it’s not going to be next week. When everything has died down and police are gone again, this is going to kick off. That’s when they are going to kill the next person,” said one.

Her colleague said: “We want to see a solution. We don’t want to see more deaths, we don’t want to see more innocent people getting killed.”

She said that traditionally there were no problems with Traveller families in the area and that it was a relatively recent development with a minority of them.

Two Traveller organisations — the Irish Traveller Movement and Pavee Point — appealed for calm. They urged people not to take the law into their own hands and to assist gardaí.

Gardaí, meanwhile, made a significant breakthrough on Wednesday after search teams found the suspected murder weapon as well as a balaclava and gloves. The items were found near where the getaway 4x4 was abandoned adjacent to Brown’s Barn, off the Naas Road. The vehicle was not burned out and officers retrieved two spent cartridges from inside. Forensic experts are working through the night to gather any evidence — such as fibres, fingerprints and DNA — from the 4x4, shotgun, balaclava and gloves. Experts are also carrying out ballistic tests on the shotgun and the cartridges. Gardaí are also examining CCTV footage along the gunmen’s escape route.

Detectives are investigating if the attack was carried out by a criminal gang in retaliation for the murder of a 20-year-old man in Tallaght in Jan 2009.

Call for calm

Ireland’s highest ranking Garda officer has urged calm after the drive-by shooting of a teenage girl.

Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan vowed his force was working hard to bring 16-year-old Melanie McCarthy’s killers to justice.

“I’m very pleased with the progress that’s being made at the moment,” he said.

The teenage victim, also known by the surname McNamara, was shot in the head in Tallaght on Tuesday night, while sitting in a car with her boyfriend and two others.

It is believed Melanie's boyfriend was the intended target.

Mr Callinan offered his condolences to the girl’s family, and appealed for people to take a step back and reflect on the events.

He praised calls from Traveller community leaders for calm and co-operation.

“This is a time for reflection, it’s a time for calm and more importantly it is a time for the people who have knowledge about the perpetrators of this crime to come forward and assist the gardaí and assist the democratic organs of the state,” he said.

“We are well capable of dealing with this particular issue but we need to do it in a calm manner and we need to apply the laws of the land.”

The Garda chief defended the deployment of armed officers in Tallaght, adding that the force would do all it could to allay public fears.

“As always, we have to be conscious of what has just happened and we are doingeverything that needs to be done from the assessment of the information that isavailable to us,” he said.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter insisted there was no question of gardaí havingany problems bringing the killers before the courts.

The Irish Traveller Movement is worried that there may be retaliation for the killing.

“We acknowledge the nature of Melanie’s death has caused understandable shockand distress also to the community of West Tallaght and for the wider Travellercommunity in Ireland,” a spokeswoman said.

“We appeal for calm and ask people to offer full cooperation to the gardaí intheir pursuit of Melanie’s killers — in what is the appropriate way for justice to be done.”

— Ed Carty and Brian Hutton