Man jailed for role in first feud killing escapes death

A MAN jailed for his part in the first killing in the vicious Limerick feud, has narrowly escaped death.

Paul Coffey, aged 32, was targeted in the city centre on Sunday night by a lone gunman. He was shot at, but escaped unhurt.

Coffey was released from prison in January after serving a seven-year sentence for the manslaughter of Eddie Ryan, aged 40, who had been shot dead in the Moose Bar in November 2000.

Coffey was walking down Michael Street at around 9.30pm on Sunday when a lone gunman stepped from a car and opened fire. He escaped without injury.

Sources said the incident was possibly carried out by members of the McCarthy Dundon gang.

Gardaí, it emerged, are searching for a 1884 Toyota Corolla.

The killing of Eddie Ryan had escalated, to a new level of viciousness, a feud involving the Keane Collopy and McCarthy Dundon gangs. Since that killing, a further 19 people died.

Coffey was the driver of the car which brought gunmen, Kieran Keane, 34, and Philip Collopy, 20, to the Moose Bar. After running into the bar they opened fire fatally wounding Eddie Ryan and also injuring a number of other people in the crowded bar.

Kieran Keane was abducted and murdered by the McCarthy Dundon gang in January 2003 and Philip Collopy accidentally shot himself dead last year when he put a Glock semi-automatic to his head and pulled the trigger not knowing there was a bullet in the breech.

Coffey pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Eddie Ryan at the Central Criminal Court in 2003. He was sentenced to 15 years with seven years suspended. He was released in January on completion of his sentence with remission.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Henry Abbott said the killing of Eddie Ryan, a hardened criminal, had represented a quantum leap in the Limerick feud. Two days before, Ryan walked up to Christy Keane as he sat in a car outside a school waiting to pick up one of his children, and produced a hand gun. As he went to shoot Christy Keane, the gun jammed and Eddie Ryan ran off.

On the following Sunday night, Eddie Ryan went to the Moose Bar after attending the removal of a relative to nearby St John’s Cathedral. As he sat inside the door having a drink, the two gunmen struck. He died instantly.