MORE than 700 gardaí have retired from the force this year and the number could swell further before the budget next month.

A MAN described as one of Limerick’s most vicious criminals has died suddenly in jail while serving life for the brutal murder of a barman in the city.

SPECULATION intensified in Limerick last night that a major breakthrough has been made in the Shane Geoghegan murder investigation.

THE Garda chief heading the Shane Geoghegan murder investigation told a special sitting of Limerick District Court last night of new evidence gathered in the major probe.

MINISTER of State for Foreign Affairs Peter Power yesterday demanded lengthy jail sentences for people convicted of gun crime in Limerick.

FOLLOWING a meeting with Limerick’s most senior garda officers, Mayor John Gilligan said he was very confident that those involved in the murder of rugby captain Shane Geoghegan will be brought to justice.

SENIOR gardaí will meet today with the local joint policing authority in Limerick as a top garda takes charge of the Shane Geoghegan murder investigation.

A MAJOR reorganisation of senior garda management in the Mid-West kicks in today with Limerick getting its first detective superintendent.

BLANKET policing of Southill was demanded yesterday as the murder hunt continued in Limerick for the killer of part-time security worker Noel Crawford.

LIMERICK was yesterday counting the cost of Hallowe’en night fire-bombings and street attacks which forced the city bus service to close down at 7pm.

UNIFORMED garda patrols in Limerick will receive armed support to tackle “acts of savagery”, such as last weekend’s proliferation of petrol bombings in Moyross.

THE garda chief heading the investigation into the car inferno, which caused serious burns to brother and sister Millie and Gavin Murray, said last night the inquiry was as big as any murder probe.

THE Limerick teenager shot dead late on Wednesday night was possibly a “soft target” revenge killing for an attack, earlier that day, on members of a city feud gang.

GARDAÍ in the Southern Region - which takes in Cork, Limerick, Kerry and Tipperary - have been joined by specialist recruits.

MURDERED Limerick criminal David Nunan, whose body was found yesterday in the affluent village of Parteen, may have been lured into a death trap, believing he was going on a burglary mission with his killer.

A murder hunt began tonight for the killer of a small-time Limerick criminal in Parteen, Co Clare.

There are fears in Limerick that a localised dispute between criminal factions has now escalated after an early-morning gun attack which left three young men in hospital with shotgun wounds.

THREE uniformed Limerick gardaí were saluted yesterday for their courage in hunting down an armed gunman who fired a shotgun blast into a house.

A night-club owned by former Ireland rugby international Peter Clohessy has lost up to €15,000 a week since a court ruled that last orders had to be served by 1.30am, Limerick Circuit Court heard today.

A substantial quantity of commercial explosives and detonators have been seized by gardaí following a raid in Limerick city.

THE discovery of a substantial quantity of commercial explosives in Limerick was described by garda chiefs last night as a “major blow to criminal and subversive activities” in the Limerick region and countrywide.

Gardaí in Limerick say they are satisfied with the level of resources and support available to them in their fight to tackle the city's gangland crime.

THERE were poignant scenes in Limerick last night when the remains of four-year-old petrol bomb victim Katelyn Ryan were removed to Our Lady of Lourdes Church in