BACKGROUND:Limerick's gangland feud is worsening despite efforts to tackle the city's gun violence, writes Conor Lally, Crime Correspondent
THE SAVAGE nature of the gangland feud in Limerick was perfectly captured by events in the city yesterday.
Gardaí investigating the shooting dead on Saturday of 40-year-old Mark Moloney in Garryowen were searching a piece of waste ground in an effort to find the murder weapon when they discovered not only two guns and ammunition but also the body of a second murder victim.
He had been killed and dumped in a shallow grave. Gardaí are working on the theory that the dead man had aided Mark Moloney's killers.
They believe the killers then turned on him because they feared he would panic and supply information to gardaí about the murder if arrested.
It is no exaggeration to say that the turn of events is akin to something from the US mafia TV series The Sopranos, where men are summarily executed by paranoid criminal associates and their remains hastily buried.
The man found yesterday had not been named last night but his identity is widely known. He was a member of the McCarthy-Dundon gang which has been feuding with the Keane-Collopy faction in Limerick in recent years. A teenager from Limerick, he had been missing since Saturday.
The two weekend killings bring to 12 the number of men shot dead as part of the feud.
The latest murders come when the State is levelling houses in estates in the biggest regeneration project Limerick has ever seen.
The scale of the difficulties now facing the city is underlined by the fact that gang members killed two men, one in the middle of the day, as the Garda's emergency response unit was carrying out patrols to contain such violence.
Speaking to The Irish Timesyesterday, Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea, in whose constituency much of the violence has taken place, said the feud was becoming more fractured and difficult to read. He said he had recently been approached by family members of some of those involved and asked to mediate. Having consulted with gardaí he had decided against this.
"Several years ago when I was first approached the principal players were easily identifiable and they had the power to make any accommodation stick. But it is more fluid now," he said.
Members of criminal families were becoming aligned to those engaged in feuding, exacerbating already bitter rivalries. "They're desperados. They'll take whatever chance they get to get a score against the opposition. It's a very difficult situation."
Mr O'Dea said the Limerick Garda division had about 600 members, making it one of the most policed areas of the country. The resources had thwarted many violent incidents but there remained people who were willing to shoot others even in daylight with armed patrols close by.
"The gardaí have caught a lot of the ringleaders and many are in jail for long periods, even life. But the numbers involved in feuding has increased. The gardaí cannot be everywhere at all times."