A man in his 40s remains in custody this morning over a shooting incident at Smithfield horse fair on Sunday in which three men were wounded.
The man was arrested after the handgun that had been brought to the fair was found in a flat in the Oliver Bond complex in the south inner city. He is being held on suspicion of helping to hide the weapon but is not a suspect for the earlier shooting.
While the two men who were shot are from Co Offaly and others involved are from south Dublin, the rivalries that appear to have prompted the violence on Sunday have their origins in a long-running feud between factions of Travellers based in Waterford.
Gardaí believe some of those originally involved in the feud have moved to different parts of the country and that when they came face to face at the horse fair violence erupted.
It appears a row in which weapons such as iron bars, chains and slash hooks were produced was already under way when one man took out an improvised shotgun and opened fire.
The shooting began when a man was left with a gaping wound to his lower arm after he was attacked with a slash hook. He lost a large amount of blood and underwent surgery to save his arm.
The gunman wounded two members of an extended Traveller family from Co Offaly. The men were shot in the hip and leg; their injuries are not life threatening.
Gardaí believe all of those involved in the violence are linked to a feud in Waterford that has involved hundreds of incidents in recent years including the petrol bombing of property and non-fatal shootings and stabbings.
The feud began around four years ago at a Traveller bare-knuckle fight in a housing estate in Waterford city. One man was stabbed to death in 2009.
Gardaí have spoken to a number of people caught up in Sunday’s violence but some members of the Traveller community have been reluctant to supply information about what unfolded.
The investigating team believe the violence was most likely captured by people who were filming the fair on their phones.
Gardaí have appealed for anybody with footage or images to contact them.
A motion, proposed by Lord Mayor Gerry Breen, was passed at a meeting of Dublin City Council last night
calling on the incoming Government to introduce legislation to close the horse fair.