Influx of 100 gardai for troubled city as plan is drawn up to tackle gang crime

By Barry Duggan

Friday April 06 2007
A DEDICATED force of 100 extra gardai and a specially appointed superintendent will be deployed to tackle serious crime in Limerick by the end of August.

They will be concentrating in the four suburbs which are bases for notorious criminal gangs - Moyross, Southill, St Mary's Park and Ballinacurra-Weston.

Former Dublin city manager, John Fitzgerald, said the gardai would now begin to install officers in the four urban areas where the warring Dundon-McCarthys, Keane and Collopy gangs operate.

The gangs are known throughout the country and are heavily involved in the shipment and distribution of drugs and firearms.

The report, which looks at ways to tackle a variety of social issues in Limerick, has received the approval of the Cabinet, with recommendations already being implemented.

Mr Fitzgerald, who was spent five months compiling the report, said the extra gardai would be arriving "immediately".

"It will be phased in. You are not going to see 100 extra guards coming here in a month. You are talking about a period of over four to five months. They will be dedicated to these four areas along with the gardai already there," said Mr Fitzgerald.

- Barry Duggan