Irish Examiner view: Limerick gang now a global player

It is probably coincidental that, just as Justice Minister Helen McEntee told the Dáil that there are almost 1,000 outstanding bench warrants in Limerick, Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency, has issued a warning about the infamous Rathkeale Rovers, a Co Limerick-based crime gang.

Those announcements may be coincidental, but it is unlikely that they are not connected in at least some small way.

Europol warns that the Limerick gang, which has been under Garda investigation for 30 years, is forging and selling Covid-19 test results in Europe.

This is not the first time the gang has been the subject of an international police alert. 

The latest warns that the gang has become a global player with interests stretching across America, Australia, and Asia.

In the Dáil, the minister washed her hands of the summons issue saying: “I have no role in these matters....”

That response may be technically accurate but it is disheartening and it does seem to help to sustain an environment where an international crime gang can germinate in rural Co Limerick.