O’Dea vows killers will be brought to justice

THOSE who murdered Shane Geoghegan will be tracked down and brought to justice, defence minister Willie O’Dea vowed yesterday.

“There is a shock right through the community. It is a horrific case, a perfectly innocent young man, well-known local rugby player, a member of a very respected family, obviously mistaken for somebody else, it’s unspeakable,” he said.

He said the amount of garda numbers in Limerick had been increased dramatically over the past year along with new undercover patrols.

“Unfortunately the guards can’t be everywhere all the time to prevent crime before it happens. One thing I will say and the message which I want to send out is that there is no more successful units than the crime units in Limerick in dealing with serious crime and putting away serious criminals. The gardaí will track down the people responsible for this and put them away for many a long day to come,” he said.

Mr O’Dea said no new legislation is needed to deal with the people responsible for the murder of Shane Geoghegan.

He said: “It was a murder organised by a certain criminal gang in Limerick, whom I suspect I know who they are, and it is a matter of apprehending the perpetrators and putting them away in accordance with legislation and the laws that exist already.”

However, former Fine Gael leader Micheal Noonan called on the Government to enact new laws to fight criminal gangs, similar to those introduced to tackle the Provisional IRA.

Mr Noonan, who taught at Crescent College — where Shane Geoghegan was educated — prior to entering politics, said: “This is absolutely an appalling tragedy for the Geoghegan family. This should just not happen. I think when people like Shane Geoghegan are murdered just going about their normal social life, the law needs to be looked at again.

“I think the Government needs to examine the possibility of introducing a new crime of being a member of a criminal gang, along the lines of the laws that were so effective against the IRA.”

Mayor John Gilligan who opened a book of condolence in City Hall said: “Limerick is united in its revulsion of these people. It is now time to reflect on what can be done about stopping the violence.”

A personal friend of the dead rugby captain, Niall Collins TD, said: “What has happened is a realisation of a lot of people’s fears, because an innocent bystander has been murdered.”