Gardaí fear violent feud after house bomb attack
The grenade exploded on the balcony of the house, but luckily none of the 10 people inside was injured.
Bomb experts say if the grenade had entered the house it would have caused serious injury or death.
The attack happened at 9.40pm on Wednesday at the rear of a house on Rutland Court, Summerhill, in the north inner city.
Gardaí suspect the attack is linked to a local feud that claimed the life of 26-year-old Paul Kelly last April. He was shot dead by two masked men outside his sister’s apartment in the neighbouring suburb of Clontarf. Detectives suspect Mr Kelly was involved in a personal feud with a local drug dealer, on bail for serious drug offences.
Wednesday’s attack may be the direct result of a row between the two gangs in the Mater Hospital on Tuesday night, where members of one gang were visiting a relative of Mr Kelly.
A woman was stabbed in the hand while a man sustained head wounds.
“One line of investigation is that it’s a result of the feud,” said a Garda source. “It may well turn out not to be the case when the investigation is carried out, but certainly it’s one line of inquiry and that’s based on the people involved.”
Gardaí are not receiving co-operation from any of the people concerned. “Because neither side is co-operating we would appreciate any help from the public, who may have seen anything or who know anything,” said the garda.
Neighbours didn’t think there would be many witnesses as it was a quiet street and a lot of people were in watching the Champions League final at the time.
Gardaí said the explosion caused damage to the balcony area, the rear patio doors and to the kitchen area inside the building.
The grenade was thrown on Summerhill Place at the rear of the house. A spokesman for the Defence Forces said gardaí called for a bomb disposal team at 11pm to ensure the device had gone off completely and that there were no other devices in the area. “The team saw the result of the explosion,” said the spokesman. “It turned out to be a military hand grenade, but we are not able to tell what origin it was, or what make, because it had gone off.”
He said gardaí found the pin and “fly off” lever of the grenade nearby. The lever holds the grenade trigger together and flies off once the grenade is thrown.
“The grenade didn’t go indoors thankfully, because if it did, there were people in the house and it could have caused very serious damage, death or injuries,” said the spokesman.
A neighbour who lives in a ground-floor flat at the rear of the house described as “disgraceful” the attack. “For myself and my child I am scared. Innocent people could be hurt.” Another “nearly jumped off his chair” when he heard the bang. “It’s like bleedin Beirut,” he said.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
