Armed gardaí keep peace after Limerick stabbing

An elite squad of armed gardaí was today drafted into a Limerick housing estate to keep the peace after a teenager was stabbed to death.

Darren Bennett, of Delmege Park, Moyross, was killed during a row outside a house in nearby Creaval Park.

Gardaí sealed off the area to allow crime scene investigators carry out an examination but officers were forced to call-in the Emergency Response Unit after a gang of angry youths gathered.

A garda spokesman said: "There was a group of youths down there causing bother, public order offences at the crime scene.

"They're (ERU) down there to preserve the scene."

Darren, who just recently turned 18, was stabbed at around 2am on Wednesday morning and the killing was being linked to a local feud.

The ERU was drafted in early this morning to deal with what one garda source described as a small hard core group of youths.

Local Fianna Fáil councillor John Cronin said it was a volatile stand-off, claiming the trouble was sparked by anger at the killing.

"People feel uneasy about the whole thing," Mr Cronin said.

"It's been so long since there was a problem in Moyross. People are a bit fed up and upset over it.

"There is shock because things have got so good in Moyross. It has come completely unexpected."

Moyross hit the headlines in recent years because of anti-social behaviour and bloody gangland violence.

A new armed Regional Support Unit was set up in the city last year, the first of its kind in the country, to work alongside local gardai and members of the ERU.

Moyross is one of Limerick's troubled neighbourhoods, and is being gutted and renovated under ambitious regeneration plans for the city.

Darren, the second eldest of a family of three boys and two girls, was rushed to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital where he died a short time later.

A keen footballer, it is understood the teenager recently left St Nessan's Community school.

Moyross parish priest Fr Frank O'Dea said the family was devastated.

"I just met the family briefly," Fr O'Dea said. "They are shocked, I was talking to his mother and she just can't believe what has happened.

"She's very upset and very traumatised by the sense of shock, as any mother would be.

"Any murder, any killing is a set back in a parish. It's a very close-knit community so any killing is a shock."

It is not known how many people were involved in the stabbing and gardaí said no arrests have been made.

Meanwhile, three men were arrested in Cork over two separate stabbings following St Patrick's Day trouble.

Gardaí said the first incident happened in Blarney Street at around 12.35am when a 23-year-old man was knifed a number of times.

Two men in their early 20s were arrested at the scene, while the man was rushed to Cork University Hospital.

He was treated and later discharged.

The second incident happened at Commons Road just over an hour later when a 19-year-old man was stabbed a number of times.

He was also brought to Cork University Hospital where he remains in a stable condition.

A man in his early 20s was arrested and all three are being questioned at Gurranabraher garda station.

And fire crews in Dublin came under attack in Finglas and Cherry Orchard last night when bottles, stones and cans were hurled at them during call-outs.

No injures were reported.

Dublin Fire Brigade said it dealt with around 320 calls in the 24 hours since 9am yesterday, with more than 240 of those related to ambulance call-outs.

A spokeswoman said the number was slightly down on last year.