Fresh Finglas arson attack as gardai make feud-related arrests

There was another arson attack in Finglas on Thursday, just hours after gardaí carried out a major policing operation aimed at disrupting the ongoing feud in the north Dublin suburb.

Gardaí are increasingly concerned that the feud between two criminal gangs could soon lead to more fatalities, with violence between the groups escalating.

Finglas gardaí searched several houses in the area on Thursday morning. In one a man in his 20s was arrested for firearms offences relating to a suspected offence which occurred last January. During another search gardaí discovered a handgun and a silencer in a house. A man in his 30s and two women in their 20s were then arrested on suspicion of weapons possession.

The four accused were taken to the Finglas and Blanchardstown stations, and can be held for questioning for up to three days.

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Shortly after the arrests, at about 2.30pm, a petrol bomb was thrown at a house on Ratoath Road in Finglas. The house caught fire and was significantly damaged. The blaze was extinguished by Dublin Fire Brigade and the property was boarded up. It was unoccupied at the time and no one was injured.

Sources said early indications suggested the attack was part of the feud. It is the second property to be set alight in Finglas in recent days. At the weekend the home of Sonya Whelan was burnt out in a suspected firebomb attack. Her taxi was also destroyed and another vehicle was damaged. Ms Whelan is the mother of James Whelan who was shot dead in Finglas last month. He was the first, and so far only, fatality of the feud. Ms Whelan’s house was previously attacked with a machine-gun.

Shortly after the attack on Ms Whelan’s house two houses elsewhere in Finglas were the subject of arson attacks and two more cars were burnt out.

Garda sources have said the feud is now of big concern as it involves two large groups of young men all living in Finglas and who have access to firearms. They said some of the older men in the groups, who are in leadership positions, have proven adept at recruiting young boys into their ranks who they use to carry out attacks.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said gardaí were running a very thorough investigation with the aim of ending the violence and “nipping this so-called feud in the bud”.

Gardaí have been working to seize and board up abandoned houses which are being used by criminals in the area as bases of operations and drug-dealing locations.

One house on Ratoath Road was boarded up earlier this year after been seized by Dublin City Council. Inside gardaí found a submachine-gun, a handgun, 300 bullets and €47,000 in cash.

Speaking at a Policing Authority meeting on Thursday, Mr Harris said the Garda will not accept the presence of open drug dealing in any community and were working to shut down dealer locations.