Man arrested over 2003 murder of Limerick crime boss
The murder scene at Drombana, Limerick, in 2003. Kieran Keane was murdered and Owen Treacy was seriously wounded. File picture
Gardaí in Limerick have arrested a man in connection with the murder of Limerick crime boss Kieran Keane and the attempted murder of his nephew Owen Treacy 17 years ago.
“Gardaí investigating the murder of a male and the attempted murder of a second male at Drombanna, Co Limerick, on January 29, 2003, have this morning arrested a male, in his early 40s, in connection with their ongoing investigation,” said a Garda spokeswoman.
“The male was arrested this morning under a warrant issued by a judge of the District Court and was brought to Roxboro Road Garda Station, Limerick, where he is currently being detained under the provisions of Section 42 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1999.
“An Garda Síochána has no further comment at this time."
Mr Keane and Mr Treacy were abducted by members of the McCarthy Dundon crime gang and driven to a lonely country road at Drombana, located a short distance from Limerick City.
Mr Keane, 36, was shot in the head, and Mr Treacy, who received 17 stab wounds, miraculously survived after he played dead.
Mr Treacy was dumped by the gang at the side of the road, beside the body of his dead uncle; however, he managed to raise the alarm at a nearby house and was rushed by ambulance to hospital.
Mr Treacy was the State’s key witness in the trial of five McCarthy Dundon gang members, who were later each jailed for life for Mr Keane’s murder and Mr Treacy’s attempted murder.
The killing was part of a series of tit-for-tat murders in a decade-long vicious feud between rival drug gangs operating from strongholds on both sides of the River Shannon in the Treaty City.
Up to 20 men were killed in the feud, which gripped Limerick city and saw the Defence Forces and the armed Garda Emergency Response Unit deployed to flashpoint areas.
Mr Keane and associate Philip Collopy were the chief suspects in the murder of former Keane enforcer Eddie Ryan senior.
Mr Ryan was blasted to death in a hail of machine-gun fire in The Moose Bar in Limerick City in November 2000.
Gardaí believe the killing was a reprisal by the Keane drug gang after Mr Ryan had, days beforehand, pulled a gun on Mr Keane‘s brother Christy Keane, but the weapon jammed.
Christy Keane, from St Mary’s Park, otherwise known as the Island Field, who served much of a 10-year sentence for possessing nearly €250,000 worth of cannabis in 2001, has survived a number of attempts on his life.
The most recent attempt occurred on the grounds of the University of Limerick (UL) as he was making his way to an early morning gym session at the UL Sport Arena in 2015.
The drug gangs continue to operate but there has been a lull in slayings.
Informed sources said the rival gangs have made a “business decision” not to kill one another in order to try to operate their illicit trade below the Garda radar.
Gardaí have recovered record seizures of drugs in the city and county as they continue the war on drugs.
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