The head of the Limerick divisional drugs squad said yesterday that the jailing of the Collopy brothers, Kieran and Brian, resulted from a clinically organised strike against the gang’s leadership after a year-long multi-agency Garda operation.

The Collopys first got involved in the illicit drug trade in the late 1990s just as the notorious Limerick gang feud began to explode, writes David Raleigh.

What was described as the top of the pyramid in the Limerick heroin distribution scene was uncovered in the kitchen of a council house during a garda raid.

A heroin dealer who used to sell ice-cream to parents and their children from his ice-cream van was yesterday jailed for four years.

A man who used to make his living selling whipped ice-cream to children from his van is facing a jail term after getting caught red-handed with more than €26,000 worth of heroin in a coffee jar.

A man charged with heroin dealing was sent to the prison cells at a district court yesterday after telling a judge that he was a “turkey”.

A disqualified driver has been jailed for six-and-a-half years and disqualified from driving for 10 years after he killed a “good Samaritan” while drink driving.

A 29-year-old man has been remanded in custody after he was charged in connection with a collision which claimed the life of a pedestrian in Swords, in Dublin, at the weekend.

A Limerick man who was extradited from Bulgaria to face charges of threatening to kill a key State witness has been sent forward for trial to the Circuit Criminal Court.

A Limerick man extradited from Bulgaria to face charges of threatening to kill a key State witness, has been granted bail, despite strenuous Garda objection.

An Irish man arrested by gardaí in Bulgaria has been charged with threatening to kill a witness in an ongoing Garda investigation.

Limerick man Damien Collopy will be released next week after the Court of Criminal Appeal suspended the remaining three months of his five-year jail term for making threats to kill.

Jailed killer John Dundon knew he was ‘going down’ for the murder of Shane Geoghegan, prison insiders have said.

Convicted drug boss Johnny McNamara, the target for the attack which led to the murder of Shane Geoghegan, lived at No 6 Clonmore, Kilteragh, just doors from where Shane shared a house with his partner, Jenna Barry.

Evidence entered at the John Dundon trial which has amazed many related to a meeting in Cruises St on Oct 29, 2008.

Limerick criminal Brian Collopy has had his eight-year sentence for witness intimidation reduced by two years by the Court of Criminal Appeal.

Many leaders of a prolific crime scene have been jailed, writes Jimmy Woulfe

The director of the University Concert Hall in Limerick has said the venue has a sustainable future despite a loss of over €390,000 during the last two years.

A mother of one collapsed in tears yesterday as she was jailed at Limerick Circuit Court for two years on charges of selling large quantities of illegal cigarettes at a city centre market.

ST OLIVER Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh made hard work in accounting for Lucan Sarsfields at Parnell Park last Saturday.

A TALENTED traditional Irish musician was looking forward to collecting a new set of uileann pipes on the day he was gunned down in a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

CORK CITY maintained their strong promotion challenge, thanks to a second-half goal from Shane Duggan which gave them a narrow victory over bottom side Salthill Devon at Turner’s Cross last night.

A 20-year-old Limerick man has been jailed for life after being found guilty of murdering a young man who “was in the wrong place at the wrong time” in December 2009.

The jury in the trial of a 20 year old Limerick man who denies murdering a carpenter who was shot in the head while “ in the wrong place at the wrong time” will resume its deliberations tomorrow.

A senior Garda witness has told the murder trial of a Limerick man that he suspected the 20-year-old shot dead a carpenter in retaliation for an arson attack on his mother's van.

A 22-year-old witness in a murder trial told Gardaí he was in the passenger seat of a car when his friend, who was driving, reached across him with a gun and shot a man in front of him.

A key witness in a Limerick murder trial has told the Central Criminal Court that he saw his then 19-year-old friend shoot dead a young carpenter in 2009.

The Deputy State Pathologist has told a murder trial that the bullet used to shoot a young carpenter in Limerick in 2009, traveled straight through his head piercing his brain and fracturing his skull.

A 20-year-old Limerick man is due to stand trial at the Central Criminal Court later this week for the murder of a young carpenter just over a year ago.

A MAN who had his home confiscated by the CAB and who was shot and wounded in a Limerick gang attack was jailed for eight years for intimidating a witness with the intention of perverting and interfering with the course of course of justice.

A 38-year-old father-of-three has been jailed for eight years for intimidating a key witness in an upcoming criminal law trial.

A FORMER associate of a well-known Limerick family, along with his wife and children, are living under 24/7 Garda protection, a Circuit Court heard yesterday.

A 17-YEAR-OLD was being questioned by gardaí in Limerick yesterday in connection with a drive-by shooting near Thomond Park, last Saturday night.

NEARLY €16,000 seized from the home of a Limerick woman, who trades in various street markets, will not be returned until gardaí are satisfied the cash did not result from any illegal activities, a judge has ruled.

LIMERICK’S most senior detective yesterday warned parents the city’s notorious feuding gangs are using children to take part in YouTube videos goading rival gang members.

GARDAÍ in Limerick are investigating two shooting incidents which happened early yesterday morning, including one targeting the home of a leading member of the McCarthy Dundon gang.

ONE man was shot in the leg and another stabbed in the back in Co Tipperary yesterday as Limerick’s gang war spilled into the neighbouring county.

AS the countdown to what will be the defining budget of the next decade continues apace, as we waver between the hope that a better-late-than-never dose of reality might save us from bankruptcy and the fear that the cure might be too much to bear, we may have not noticed how very violent and crime-ridden our society has become in a relatively short time.

ARMED members of the Garda Regional Response Unit monitored the funeral of Limerick crime boss Philip Collopy yesterday, as a horse-drawn hearse bearing an aluminium casket made its way through the city centre.

A TEENAGE first cousin of Limerick criminal Philip Collopy, who died late on Sunday night after accidentally shooting himself in the head, is to be given temporary release from prison to attend the funeral.

THE Limerick crime boss who died late on Sunday night after accidentally shooting himself in the head, only last month told a Limerick court that people were “trying to shoot him every week”.

A well-known Limerick crime figure has died in hospital overnight after shooting himself at the weekend.

A LIMERICK gangland figure who shot himself on Saturday remained on a life support machine last night.