LOCAL TD and Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea has given a guarded welcome to a reported truce between Limerick’s feuding factions.
It emerged yesterday that the rival McCarthy/Dundon and Keane/Collopy gangs have agreed to a peace deal following a series of secret meetings last week.
Two people described as being acceptable to both of the rival factions are understood to have helped broker an agreement reached last Thursday, which aims to obtain a break in hostilities.
While news of the peace deal has been welcomed in Limerick with cautious optimism, gardaí are adamant that they will not relent in their campaign to bring criminals to justice.
Many people believe the recent activities by the Criminal Assets Bureau, as part of Operation Platinum, was the main catalyst for the reported truce.
Earlier this month Cab seized thousands of legal documents including credit union books and the deeds to various properties following searches of some 150 properties in Limerick city, Tipperary and Clare.
They also seized €250,000 in cash, a large quantity of drugs, a number of firearms and ammunition following the raids.
Mr O’Dea said yesterday he had “heard on the street” that some efforts were being made to broker a peace deal between the rival gangs but said he was not involved in the mediation process.
“It would seem that some sort of a deal has been brokered and naturally I would give a guarded welcome to anything that would make Limerick and the area in which these people reside safer,” the Minister said.
“Part of the problem here is that there is a danger that innocent people are going to get injured in the crossfire but obviously if there’s no fire then there’s nothing for people to get caught in,” he added.
Mr O’Dea said the Garda and in particular the Criminal Assets Bureau have been doing a “magnificent” job in tackling gangland crime and stressed that this will continue.
“The Garda investigations have to continue relentlessly and gardaí will remain on top of the situation – there is no question about that,” he said.
Mr O’Dea added yesterday that he was approached in recent months to mediate between the feuding factions.
“I was approached myself several months ago to mediate in the situation and I respectfully declined because I didn’t think it was appropriate,” he said.
Supt John Kerin said yesterday that gardaí were not involved in the truce, but said he welcomed anything that would bring peace and harmony to the city.
Limerick city’s notorious feud has claimed the lives of 10 men, who were directly linked to the gangs, in the past eight years.
A number of other people have died at the hands of those involved in the feud, which saw a serious escalation in violence last month when two young men were murdered in gangland-style killings over a 48-hour period.
It is understood these recent murders and the subsequent operations by the Criminal Assets Bureau, which has made serious inroads into curtailing criminal activity as part of Operation Platinum, have put gang members under serious pressure.
It is believed that senior members of the criminal gangs, who are serving lengthy prison sentences, reached an agreement following a number of phone calls involving the two intermediaries last week. These intermediaries are not involved in public life in Limerick but live in the city and are familiar with those involved in the feuding.
Local solicitor John Devane said yesterday that he believed Operation Platinum “had a knock-on effect”.