ERU mount armed checks at Limerick feud hotspots

HEAVILY ARMED members of the Emergency Response Unit took up duty in Limerick’s feud hotspots yesterday.

The move came less than 24 hours after Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy ordered the specialist unit’s deployment in the city.

The ERU moved into Moyross, Southill, St Mary’s Park and Ballinacurra Weston, the main feud flashpoints.

The specially trained gardaí use powerful vehicles and carry a wide range of weapons.

The unit quickly made their presence felt by mounting a series of checkpoints at key locations in the north and south sides of the city.

Commissioner Murphy briefed Justice Minister Brian Lenihan and Defence Minister Willie O’Dea at Roxboro Road Garda Station on the recent upsurge in feud-related violence.

Six houses in St Mary’s Park were raked with machine-gun fire on Tuesday night in an elaborately planned attack which targeted members of the Keane-Collopy gang who are based in the estate.

A high-powered Mercedes car stolen in Dublin on St Patrick’s Day and fitted with a taxi sign was used in the attack.

It was later found abandoned in Shannon, where gardaí say a black Toyota Corolla was used by the gunman and his accomplice.

Gardaí have completed a detailed forensic examination of the Mercedes and are still trying to locate the Toyota, which was fitted with sport wheel rims.

McCarthy-Dundon gang members are suspected of carrying out the shooting.

Some of the houses hit are owned by members of the Collopy family.

However, a number of the houses which came under fire were occupied by families who have no criminal or feud links.

All the houses were occupied at the time, and luckily no one was hit in the hale of bullets.

The ERU was previously deployed in Limerick following the January 2003 murder of crime boss Kieran Keane.

They also set up heavily armed cordons around Limerick courthouse when five men charged with his murder appeared on remand.

Gardaí feared at the time that a bomb attack would be mounted to try and free the five, who were subsequently jailed for life for Kieran Keane’s murder.