One of the two young Co Down men injured in a shoot-out on the holiday island of Ibiza early on Monday arrived back in Ireland late yesterday as Spanish police stepped up their investigation into the incident.
Gareth Richardson (18) was caught up in the shooting not long after arriving on the Balearic island for a summer holiday. Three men were injured in the shooting, believed to be between rival drug gangs, in the early hours of Monday morning,
A civil guard captain from the drug and organised crime squad and two members of the judicial police have flown from Mallorca to take over the investigation. They have declared the case sub judice and are refusing to release any information.
But local sources say the shooting was almost certainly part of the war between rival gangs, believed to be made up of young British men, fighting for control over the sale of drugs in the many bars, discotheques and nightclubs in the area. Eight men were detained after the incident, and five are still in custody.
The incident occurred on Dr Fleming Avenue, a street popular with youthful tourists who party all night and sleep most of the day. Witnesses say the shooting involved the passengers in a BMW and a rented Seat Leon car.
Three men, Mr Richardson and his friend Niall Hamilton, from Co Down, and one from Liverpool, were injured in the attack. The two Northern Irishmen were detained in hospital, where Mr Hamilton is expected to undergo a second surgical operation for facial injuries shortly. The man from Liverpool, Philip Young (24), was released after treatment for minor injuries and was then detained by police. He also arrived back in Belfast yesterday.
One of the five still in the cells is the man who rented the Seat Leon car from where some of the shots were fired. Police have still not recovered any weapons, although they confirmed that some 30 spent cartridges, of two different calibres, were found at the scene.
In an unrelated tragedy, the body of Basil Bourke (21), nephew of Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea, will be flown back to Ireland for burial after investigations into his drowning have been completed.
Sources say these steps usually take a week.
Civil guards are treating the death of the young Limerick man as a tragic accident. A civil guard spokeswoman confirmed that the doctor who examined the body found no signs of violence or any other injuries. It is believed he drowned in the early hours of Tuesday morning after jumping into the sea in Portmany Bay, near the resort of San Antonio de Abad, where he was staying with a group of friends.
The men were on the Captain Nemo, a motorboat which takes tourists on pleasure cruises around the bay. About 15 minutes before they were due to reach the harbour, Mr Bourke and his friend Patrick Burke (24) decided to jump overboard and swim ashore. When they failed to return, their friends reported their disappearance.
Mr Burke was rescued by a local fishing boat after about 90 minutes in the water. Swimmers bathing near the Port Des Torrent beach spotted a body floating in the water several hours later, following a search by police frogmen.
Incidents such as the shoot-out on Monday have done much to mar the reputation of the picturesque Balearic island. It has also become notorious as the resort for youthful "lager louts" and the spoiled rich offspring of the famous.
Jade Jagger, daughter of Rolling Stone Mick Jagger, has a house not far from San Antonio where last weekend she entertained model Kate Moss and hotel heiress Paris Hilton, who were seen leaving discos such as Amnesia or Pachá in the early dawn hours.
But there is more to Ibiza than San Antonio de Abad, on the north of the island, where the noisy partygoers congregate. Much of the rest of the island is untouched by the brash, drunken crowds.
Those who holiday near the old towns of Santa Eulalia and Ibiza Town, in the south, or the unspoiled inland areas, want to keep it that way. They rent luxury villas, check into five-star hotels and remain untroubled by the noisy crowds.
Last August, 31,376 Irish people holidayed in the Balearic islands, according to the Irish Association of Travel Agents.
Tour operators say Monday's incidents have had no immediate impact on bookings.
"It's a coincidence that Irish people have been involved, but we've had no calls to our customer relations line," said Clem Walsh, marketing manager with Budget Travel in Dublin.