FOURTEEN PEOPLE were in Garda custody last night in connection with the murder last year of 28-year-old Limerick rugby player Shane Geoghegan.
Seven men and seven women were arrested during a series of early morning raids on properties in counties Limerick, Tipperary and Dublin in a preplanned operation involving more than 70 gardaí.
The majority of the arrests were made in Limerick where a total of 12 people were arrested by gardaí yesterday morning at several addresses on the southside of the city.
Five men and five women were arrested at 7am, while two more people, a man and a woman, were arrested at 11am as part of the Garda operation.
A 41-year-old man was arrested near Bansha in Co Tipperary while a woman in her 20s was arrested in Coolock, Dublin.
A small quantity of drugs, believed to be heroin, as well as drugs paraphernalia, were found during the search in Co Tipperary.
The 14 people arrested range in age from late teens to early 40s.
Some were detained under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, while the others were being held under section 50 of the same Act.
They were in custody at separate Garda stations in Limerick last night and also at stations in counties Clare, Dublin and Tipperary. It is understood the majority of those arrested are being questioned in relation to withholding information about the murder of Mr Geoghegan, who was shot dead in a case of mistaken identity last November.
Gardaí believe members of the notorious McCarthy Dundon criminal gang who were targeting a drugs dealer living near Mr Geoghegan’s home in Dooradoyle were behind the brutal killing.
Two of the main figures involved in the shooting fled the jurisdiction shortly after the murder.
In the aftermath of the killing, there were a number of major search operations resulting in the seizure of large amounts of drugs, ammunition and firearms.
Yesterday’s raids were led by detectives attached to Roxboro Garda station in Limerick who were supported by colleagues in Henry Street and a number of national units.
The arrests bring to 16 the number of people formally arrested so far in connection with the murder inquiry, which is one of the biggest in Limerick since the death of Limerick bouncer Brian Fitzgerald.
The first arrests in the investigation were made on January 30th last when two men aged 57 and 28 were arrested in Dublin and Limerick.
They were later released without charge and a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Garda Insp Séamus Ruane at Roxboro station confirmed yesterday that the latest arrests were part of the ongoing pursuit of Mr Geoghegan’s killers.
“Principally, the arrests were totally connected with the investigation into the murder of Shane Geoghegan. We’re satisfied with the progress that we have made so far and indeed with the arrests that have been made today,” he said.
Mr Geoghegan was returning home after watching the Ireland-Canada rugby game at a friend’s house in the Kilteragh estate in Dooradoyle, Limerick, just after 1.30am on November 9th last when his killers struck.
The death of the popular rugby player caused nationwide shock and led to a crackdown on criminal gangs based in Limerick.