Keane son was target of Limerick shooting

The teenage son of murdered crime boss, Kieran Keane, was the intended target of the latest gun attack in Limerick city, it has emerged.

Gardaí in Limerick remain on a state of high alert following last night's failed assassination attempt.

Concerns are mounting that the latest sinister attack could spark a fresh outbreak of violence in the bloody feud which has claimed at least four lives in recent years.

Joseph Keane was among a group of friends standing outside a fast food outlet in the Garryowen area of the city when the attack happened shortly after 7pm on Monday night.

At least two shots were discharged by the pillion pasenger on a motorbike who dismounted before opening fire at the teenager. The gun attack happened just 50 yards from the intended victim's family home where he lives with his mother, the widow of murdered crime bos, Kieran Keane.

No one was struck in the attack but one of the bullets lodged in a car owned by the proprietor of the fast food outlet.

Eyewitness reports suggest that moments earlier, a car carrying several people had pulled up outside the chip shop and that the occupants may have tipped off the gunman that Joseph Keane was in the area.

No arrests have been made in connection with the incident but gardaí were maintaining a very visible presence across the city in anticipation of possible reprisals.

One of the chief suspects in the failed assassination attempt is a notorious member of a southside criminal gang with a reputation for extreme violence who has become embroiled in the vicious Limerick feud.

The attempted hit follows a period of heightened tension between the feuding elements in recent weeks and gardaí said today that they were "seriously concerned" about the possibility of further strikes by the feuding factions.

"This is a very worrying development. It is only luck that prevented someone being killed last night and we have to be aware of the possibility that more incidents may follow," said a garda source.

This was the sixth gun attack in the city in the last week and the fourth in which individuals rather than property were targeted.

Last week, the city's most senior garda, Chief Superintendent Jerry Kelly, told a meeting of city councillors that one third of all shooting incidents nationwide occur in Limerick.

Kieran Keane was murdered in January of last year at Drombana, on the outskirts of Limerick after he was abducted with his nephew, Owen Treacy.

Keane was shot in the head while his nephew was stabbed more than a dozen times and left for dead.

However, Mr Treacy managed to survive the frenzied attack and later gave evidence at the trial of five men who were sentenced to life in prison after they were convicted of his uncle's murder.