It seems as if it never rains but it pours in Limerick - only for the past few weeks it's not the weather that's being talked about. Over a three-week period, four murders and two serious assaults occurred. The victim of one assault is in a critical condition on a life support machine. If he dies, there could be a fifth murder investigation.

During the same period, a £1.3 million cache of cocaine and cannabis was seized and a significant drug dealer arrested.

Apart from a connection between the murder of Eric Leamy and the assault on Jonathan Edwards, none of the above incidents are related or connected with any of the tribal feuds going on between the members of some extended families.

Up to August, there had been two murders in the city, events which only attracted media interest on the day. That Limerick should have had such a crime-ridden month during a quiet news period was unfortunate for its reputation, adding grist to the "Stab City" mill. But detractors of the city could also point to the steady stream of unreported assaults. Staff at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital say there is at least one stabbing incident every weekend night.

Is the reputation deserved? Not according to the locally-based politicians who are accustomed to defending their city, citing the crime statistics to bear out their argument. Nor does Prof Dermot Walsh, of the University of Limerick's law department and a specialist in criminal justice, believe the city has a particular problem.

"The reality is that the offences you are seeing and the number of them are not out of the ordinary in terms of the statistics."

He has researched cases appearing before Limerick Circuit Criminal Court and says they show a picture of the emerging national trend. "They would suggest that Limerick is not any different but, and it is a big `but', the reality is that we are all experiencing a problem with this kind of crime. There has been a definite increase in the propensity, particularly in young people, to knives or weapons to resolve disputes."

He said there was a need for research into why there was a marked increase in violent crime among young people. Alcohol abuse was one factor. "Most of the incidents take place outside a pub or they occur either inside or outside fast food outlets after closing time or they occur at cider parties, or they are reactions to incidents that have occurred in such circumstances."

Last Sunday's murder in the Killeely area of the city occurred after a session at a bar. Although the victim, Brian Hanley, was facing drug-dealing charges in connection with a £1 million ecstasy tablets seizure, his death occurred as a result of a drunken brawl, according to one garda.

The stabbing of Eric Leamy at a small park in the Lee Estate on Tuesday morning is also not believed to have been pre-planned. Chief Supt Gerry Kelly said there were many incidents which occurred as a result of spontaneous violence, where people display a callous side to their character. "It is very hard to deal with a lot of them. Very often people cannot offer a valid reason as to why they did it, so it is mindless violence."

The murder of Anthony Casey, on August 12th, is now believed to have resulted from an over-zealous beating he got. One person contacted The Irish Times this week, saying he was in intensive care for a week following a beating from the same people. He is pursuing a civil action.

Gardai on the street talk of a culture of "wanting it now". "There is a terrible aggression there now and I think it is related to drink and drugs," one said.

PROF Walsh said that similarly to many cities and towns in the State, Limerick had suffered from low investment, high unemployment and poor social housing. "There is a disproportionately large number of housing estates suffering from social and environmental and physical problems. Ultimately, that is at the root of crime problems in Limerick."

Dr Tony Fahey, of the Economic and Social Research Institute, has done a major study on local authority housing estates in the State, including Moyross in Limerick. He said the problem with such estates often did not lie with the bricks and mortar. "It is with the whole range of characteristics, the poverty of the people living in the houses and the lack of supports for those people.

"You can identify the trouble people will be in later on when they are six or seven or eight. The services are not there to intervene at that stage and the problems emerge later on down the line."

One healthcare professional said the disadvantage in some Limerick estates was overwhelming, hand-in-hand with a high level of violence. "There is so much feuding, it really complicates our work. It is really important to know the relationships between different families."

Prof Walsh added that the long tradition of family feuding was unique to Limerick. "A large proportion of violence can be traced back to a relatively small number of families."

The Stab City appellation has dogged the city since the late 1980s. There were plenty of incidents to keep it going. The violent deaths of two brothers within three days of each other over the Christmas period in 1993 led to a media frenzy.

In February 1995 a brother of the two men who had died 14 months previously was stabbed six times. Since then, there has been a steady trickle of murders. The last feud-related one was the assassination of Eddie Ryan in a city centre bar last November with a handgun.

The episode prompted one garda inspector to remark that the day of the knife had ended. But he did not envisage that within two months a booby trap would be placed under a car. It was a failed assassination attempt in yet another feud-related incident, marking a new chapter in the city's violent history.