Gardaí shut down Facebook page as tensions rise over biker murder

By David Raleigh

Gardaí have shut down a Limerick motorcycle club's Facebook page after the names of suspects in the murder of one of the club's members allegedly appeared online.

A separate Facebook page which allegedly posted pictures of the suspects under the headline "Murderers" has also been closed down.

It follows the murder of Andrew O'Donoghue, 51, a member of the Road Tramp Motorcycle Club, who was shot in the head in a drive-by shooting outside the Road Tramps clubhouse last Saturday.

Andrew O'Donoghue

Four men are being questioned by gardaí in connection with the murder.

A security source said: "Gardaí do not believe Andrew was specifically targeted. He happened to be in the line of fire."

It's emerged that days after the shooting, a distraught Road Tramps member allegedly identified the suspects on his club's Facebook page.

He wrote: "People asking me to take this down. I won't. They are as guilty as c***. You pulled the trigger."

He added: "I will name and shame the c****. I don't give a f***".

Once Gardaí learned of the online rant, the Facebook page was closed down.

"It wasn't helping the garda investigation and the Facebook page was taken down with the club's cooperation. It was only adding fuel to the fire," said a security source.

Mr O'Donoghue death has led to boiling tensions within the Irish MC fraternity.

One Road Tramp biker wrote on Facebook: "ye murder'in b*******.ye are all gona rot in jail first and then in hell for what ye done. cowardly murder'in lowlife c****".

The Waterford-based Freewheelers MC Ireland wrote: "Our Brother Odd was murdered by scum"..."we won't forget or forgive RIP Bro".

The victim's club is part of an "alliance" of four Irish MCs calling themselves "1% club's".

These include the Limerick-based Road Tramps MC Ireland, the Devil's Disciples in Dublin, the Waterford-based Freewheelers MC Ireland, and Vikings MC Ireland, from Wexford.

According to MC sources, any club operating under the "1% Code" means they live by their own rules instead of the "rule of law" as adhered to by society at large. However a security source said there are no known criminal links to the 1% club's in Ireland.

"The Road Tramps wouldn't really have come to garda attention in the past. They see themselves more as partygoers and hard drinkers, but criminality would not be on their agenda," a security source said.

A motorcycle source added: "These clubs have different ranks within them, and decisions are taken by votes of all the members."

"If you want to join, you become a 'Prospect' for around a year. The Prospect is like a slave, or someone who does all the dogsbody work. The members will then eventually vote on whether you become a full member. If you do succeed into becoming a member the club becomes your second family. It's a really tight knit family."

Meanwhile, a separate Facebook account, set up in the name of the alleged gunman, has also been closed down.