Members of the specialist Garda Emergency Response Unit were last night drafted on to the streets of Limerick to prevent further bloodshed in the ongoing violent feud between two families in the city.
The decision to deploy the highly trained gardaí to Limerick followed the murder of a member of one of the families, Mr Ciaran Keane (42) on Wednesday night.
His shooting dead came hours before the dramatic appearance in the early hours of yesterday at Portlaoise Garda station of members of the other family, teenage brothers Eddie and Kieran Ryan. They had been missing for a week and reported as abducted.
As fears of reprisal for Mr Keane's death increased, the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, announced he was considering transferring some Central Criminal Court murder trials to Limerick so local gardaí would not have to travel to Dublin while cases were being heard.
Last night two people were being questioned in relation to Mr Keane's death. The two, a man and woman both in their 40s, were being detained at Roxborough Garda station.
Gardaí said they planned to question the Ryan brothers today to get a "clearer picture" of what had happened. When asked if the gardaí were satisfied the Ryans had in fact been abducted and held for seven days, Chief Supt Gerry Kelly said it was best to keep an "open mind". However, the Ryans had acted like men who had been through "an experience", he said.
An investigation into the financial affairs of the feuding gangs is well advanced, Chief Supt Kelly said.
Mr McDowell was heavily criticised for the rise in crime in Limerick by opposition politicians in the Dáil yesterday. Earlier he met the Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, to discuss how to tackle the problem in the city.
While the Minister denied there was a crisis in law and order in the State, Chief Supt Kelly said he feared a revenge attack. The feud between the Ryan and Keane families was driven by a deep hatred, a form of madness that was difficult to control, he said.
Assistant Garda Commissioner Adrian Culligan said in Limerick that the gardaí were sometimes asked to bear too much pressure when it came to the enforcement of the law.
He called for the entire workings of the judicial system to be examined, and said up to 12 murder cases now being dealt with by Limerick gardaí might have to be fast-tracked in an effort to take the pressure off local members of the force.
But he insisted extra resources alone would not solve Limerick's problems. "We need to be supported by other agencies," he added.
Last night members of the Garda Response Unit had set up checkpoints and patrolled the estate where the Ryan family live.
The mother of Eddie and Kieran Ryan appealed for an end to the animosity and trouble between feuding families. Mrs Mary Ryan said that she had no hatred for anyone - she just wanted to live in peace with her family.
Meanwhile, five men from one of the groups involved in the Limerick feud were given jail sentences yesterday for being involved in a confrontation with members of the other faction outside the city's courthouse over the past week.