Shooting in Limerick
A man was shot last night in the Hyde Road area of Limerick. According to local sources, four shots were discharged at 10.50pm on the road by one of a gang of four youths. The injured man, in his mid thirties, was admitted to the Accident and Emergency department in Limerick's Mid Western Regional Hospital. The man's injuries are not life-threatning.
Local sources say that the man was shot in the neck, back and arm. Staff at the Mid Western Hospital were unable to confirm the man's injuries, but said that he has been discharged from Accident and Emergency this morning.
It is believed locally that the shooting is related to a feud between two gangs, one from St Mary's Park in the northside of the city, the other local to the Hyde Road area. However, the man who was shot, who lives on Lenihan Avenue in Limerick, was mistakenly identified by the assailants as a member of the rival gang from the northside of Limerick city. Local residents say that the man was not previous involved with either gang.
Residents say that children who were on the avenue at the time saw the assailants load the gun that was used in the attack. The Fitzgerald report on the regeneration of Limerick's troubled estates which was published in April this year recommended that 100 additional garda be devoted to the areas identified by the report for regeneration - estates in Moyross, Southill and Balincurra Weston where Hyde Road is located. A local regeneration activist from the area told Village that to date, Limerick has received 39 additional gardai, but that eight gardai retired in that time. The report also stipulated that a Superintendent be given specific responsibility for the areas under regeneration. A dedicated Superintendent has not yet been appointed.
Eight CCTV cameras were also promised for areas in the southside. The cameras were supposed to be in place by September but have not yet been installed.
Southside residents will meet the Southside Regeneration Committee this Monday to discuss the regeneration project.