Deadly feud claims another victim as man gunned down

A MAN was shot dead in Limerick last night, the latest casualty in a bloody feud between crime gangs which has plunged the city into terror.

John Ryan, who was married with a family, was working outside his house in High Road, Thomondgate, around 6.30pm when a motorbike with two passengers approached him. The pillion passenger fired four shots from a handgun, striking Mr Ryan in the stomach and leg.

He was rushed by ambulance to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital where he died shortly after 7pm.

Mr Ryan lived with his wife and large family at Cliona Park, Moyross, and was the brother of Eddie Ryan Senior who was gunned down in the Moose Bar in Catherine Place, Limerick city, in November 2000.

The dead man had previously lived at Lee Estate, St Mary’s Park, but he fled with his family after more than 10 gun attacks and one fire-bombing.

Mr Ryan’s two nephews, Eddie and Kieran Ryan, both aged 20, of Hogan Ave, Kileely, were at the centre of a major abduction investigation last January when they disappeared for a week after being bundled into a car at gunpoint at Moylish Avenue, Ballynanty Beg, in the northside of the city. A week later they walked into Portlaoise garda station unharmed.

Earlier that night, crime boss Kieran Keane was shot dead at Drombanna on the outskirts of the city.

His nephew Owen Treacy suffered multiple stab wounds. Five men have already appeared before Limerick District Court charged with the murder of Mr Keane and the attempted murder of Mr Treacy.

Gardaí last night made an appeal for witnesses to the brutal killing of Mr Ryan.

“We are particularly anxious to hear from anybody who saw two people on a red motorbike acting suspiciously in the High Road-Thomondbridge area between 6pm and 7pm,” said Detective Sergeant Jim Ryan of Mayorstone garda station.

“This was a ruthless killing and we are appealing for public assistance in tracking down those responsible. We believe this incident is part of the ongoing feud between rival factions in the northside of the city,” Det Sgt Ryan said.

The feud, involving the Ryan and Keane families, goes back to the early 1990s, when Eddie Ryan Snr worked closely with the Keane gang. However, problems arose when he decided to branch out on his own. Around the same time, children of both families became involved in a row in a schoolyard. The events combined to spark the feud which has escalated over the years.

Gardaí say there have been more than 40 reported incidents at various homes around the city linked to the feud in recent years.

Gardaí confirmed last night that a man in his 20s was being detained under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act for questioning in connection with Mr Ryan’s murder.