New gangland violence feared after M50 shooting

Politicians have warned that it is inevitable that an innocent member of the public will be killed in a criminal feud following another gangland shooting at the weekend.

Gardaí decribed the attack as extemely serious and fear the outbreak of a new round of violent feuding following the car chase in which a car carrying five people was riddled with bullets from an automatic weapon duing a car chase along the M50 motorway.

Two west Dublin drug dealers  were injured when four masked attackers in an Opel Astra fired more than 20 shots at the Lexus in which they were travelling.

Three women in the target car were unhurt in the incident, which took place at 4am on Sunday. The women had just met the men in the Spawell pub in Templeogue that night.

The two cars were involved in a five-kilometre high-speed chase along the motorway, ending when both cars took the Palmerstown exit. The two men and three women forced their way into a service station near the Foxhunter Pub and their assailants fled.

Both men were wearing bullet-proof body armour. One man was shot in the arm and upper body. He was later treated at James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown. He subsequently discharged himself and is understood to be refusing to speak to detectives.

The Labour Party's justice spokesman, Joe Costello, said the attack was more reminiscent of a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles than the suburbs of Dublin, adding it was an "absolute miracle" that no members of the public were hurt.

Mr Costello claimed armed gangs were acting with virtual impunity. "They clearly have no respect whatsoever for the law or for public safety, and it is only a matter of time before a member of the public is killed during one of these grubby feuds," he said.

Jim O'Keeffe, Fine Gael's justice spokesman, echoed Mr Costello's comments, describing Dublin's gangland as "out of control". He said the M50 had "effectively turned into a shooting gallery" during the car chase.

Both criticised Minister for Justice Michael McDowell for failing to tackle the problem.

"The intolerable situation must end, and I appeal to the Minister to provide the Gardai with sufficient resources to tackle the gangs and put them permanently out of business," Mr Costello said.