Gardaí on the trail of man's killers

GARDAÍ in Limerick are following a definite line of inquiry in the hunt for the killers of a 39-year-old Clareman on New Year’s Eve.

Sean Poland, from Blackwater, Ardnacrusha, Co Clare, had just returned home with his partner, Joanne Lyons, when a masked gang called to his home at 11.30pm. He was shot in the hallway and the gang burst into the sitting room where tied up the victim’s partner before making off with €1,000.

Gardaí believe robbery was the motive for the killing. The victim, described by family as a “popular and happy-go-lucky man who would not harm anyone”, worked as a bricklayer and part-time secondhand cars salesman.

A Moyross-based gang is suspected of being involved in the murder and gardaí are looking for a handgun used in the killing. Gardaí denied reports the same gang was also responsible for the murder of 34-year-old nightclub security man Brian Fitzgerald in Corbally on November 29 last.

Mr Fitzgerald was murdered after refusing to let a gang sell drugs in one of Limerick city’s most popular nightspots.

The head of the Limerick Garda Division, Chief Supt. Gerry Kelly is confident of catching Mr Fitzgerald’s killers.

“It is one of the most sinister crimes I have ever dealt with. Every murder is a heinous crime, but this one is very sinister and goes to the heart of the whole democratic process,” said Chief Supt. Kelly.