The main gangs and their conflicts.
LIMERICK
The feud proper begins in November 2000 when Kieran Keane, the head of Limerick's biggest drugs gang, shoots dead his one-time enforcer, Eddie Ryan, after the two begin drug-dealing in opposition to each other. In 2003 the Dundon-McCarthy gang bursts on to the Limerick scene to challenge the supremacy of the Keane gang by killing Kieran Keane. To date, there have been eight murders as the feuding criminals target each other. A mix of personal animosity and turf-war rivalries continues to drive the conflict.
THE WESTIES
Westies gang leaders Shane Coates and Stephen Sugg shoot dead rival drug dealer Paschal Boland in January 1999. They kill Paul Ryan, a young dealer from Raheny, Dublin, in April 2003. Two of the gang's junior members - Andrew and Mark Glennon - decide to start up their own business in 2002. They shoot dead Bernard Sugg - brother of Stephen Sugg - in August 2003. Sugg and Coates flee to Spain, where they cross an Irish drug dealer and are shot dead by him in January 2004. Their bodies are found 18 months later. By then, both of the Glennons have also been shot dead by other young rival Blanchardstown dealers.
CRUMLIN-DRIMNAGH
In August 2001 Declan Gavin (20), from Drimnagh, is stabbed to death in Crumlin. He is killed because other dealers from Drimnagh are enraged he has gone into business with a Crumlin gang. He is also blamed for informing after cocaine worth more than £1 million was seized by gardaí. Since Gavin's death the drug-dealing faction he led has remained in opposition to the faction that murdered him. There have been a further nine killings. Six of these are straight tit-for-tat murders between the rival factions, who have by now grown into major cocaine dealers. Three murders have been internal killings over drugs within the two gangs.
MARTIN "MARLO" HYLAND
Finglas man Hyland was the leader of arguably the biggest drugs gang in the country. In May 2006, drug dealer Paddy Harte is killed outside his Raheny home after he floods Finglas with heroin, bringing down the value of the drug and angering his friend Hyland.
In November, Drogheda man Paul Reay (26) is shot dead by the Hyland gang after cocaine valued at €400,000 and owned by Hyland is seized by gardaí from Reay.
Baiba Saulite (28) is shot dead at her home in Swords on November 19th. Gardaí believe Hyland's gang assisted the contract killing. A month later Hyland's own gang decides to kill him because he is attracting too much Garda attention. In the process they also murder an innocent eyewitness, 20-year-old apprentice plumber Anthony Campbell.
SHERIFF STREET, DUBLIN
A feud in the area erupts in 2004 after gang boss Christy Griffin is accused by his partner's daughter of sexual abuse and rape. Immediately, criminals in the area take sides. One faction sticks by the gang boss, another faction opposes him. A series of tit-for-tat shootings, grenade attacks, stabbings and beatings ensues. Last December, as Griffin's trial approaches, two men - Gerard "Batt" Byrne and Stephen Ledden - are shot dead in feud-related attacks. Griffin is convicted of rape in January and is later jailed for life. However, gardaí maintain a massive security operation in the area as more killings are feared.