DISTURBANCES between two rival traveller families in Co Galway over the past few days have abated, according to gardai. Nine people were hospitalised, including one man who was seriously injured.
The initial row broke out during the funeral of a well known traveller, Mr Bernie Mongan, in Tuam on Sunday afternoon.
A "near riot" occurred at the local cemetery, Supt Bill Fennell said. The two families involved were the Wards and McDonaghs neither family is related to the deceased man.
Seven people were hospitalised when extensive damage was caused to the graveyard. Iron bars and stones were used in a confrontation which involved more than 30 people.
"We do not know what started it. There is a report that one family was offended when members of another family stood on a grave belonging to their relatives," Supt Fennell said.
A man who was hit on the head with a stone was transferred to hospital in Dublin with a serious eye injury. Two others had knife wounds. The seven people were brought to casualty in University College Hospital, Galway, where gardai and security staff had to quell a further disturbance.
Gardai were again called to halting sites in Galway and Tuam when related incidents occurred later in the day. In Tuam several caravans were sabotaged.
During Monday afternoon another disturbance took place in Tuam when a group of men arrived outside a house carrying hatchets and slash hooks. They smashed windows in the house and wrecked two vans parked outside. Before gardai intervened, up to 50 people were involved.
Supt Fennell said there had been a number of incidents in Tuam in recent years involving disturbances within the travelling community, but "this was the most vicious" no.
"Fortunately garda was injured in a potentially dangerous situation," he added. "These incidents were confined to two large travelling families, some of whom live in the area. It will take some time to fully investigate what happened. We will do this exhaustively."
Among the "staggering range" of weapons confiscated by gardai were slash hooks, shovels, lump hammers, hatchets, saws, hurleys, cudgels in the form of plastic piping with pieces of lead taped on top, iron bars, timber, stones and butchers' knives.
A Tuam county councillor, Mr Pat Finnegan (FF), said there was widespread dismay and disappointment in the whole community at what had happened. The town had done so much for the travelling community, he said, and these types of incidents did not help this process.
Most travellers in Galway were upset by what had happened, Ms Rachel Doyle, of Galway Travellers Support Group, said. "We condemn such anti social behaviour. We do not defend such actions. The law has to do something about it. We have no problem with that."
The one fear was that all travellers would be branded by what had happened, she said, and that this would cloud matters when it came to providing much needed services and accommodation for them.