Gardaí have begun a major security operation in Waterford following an outbreak of serious violence at a Travellers' halting site which has seen one man shot, two others attacked with slash hooks and a number of caravans destroyed by arsonists.
The security situation at the Kilbarry halting site outside Waterford city escalated in the early hours of yesterday morning when three men were wounded in an attack at a house.
One sustained a gunshot wound to the leg while two others were wounded with what appears to have been slash hooks.
The emergency services were alerted immediately the incident took place at 4.30am and the three injured men, who are in their 20s, were taken for treatment to Waterford Regional Hospital.
Gardaí began a major search operation involving over 30 local officers. A number of caravans and houses at the site were searched throughout the day and all vehicles entering and leaving were also searched.
The house where yesterday morning's attack took place was sealed off and underwent a full technical examination. Gardaí investigating the incident arrested three men at the halting site yesterday and they were being questioned last night.
The investigation into the shooting and apparent slash hook attack is focusing on links to an arson attack on a new local authority house near the Kilbarry halting site last Friday.
The house, at Green Road, Kilbarry, was unoccupied at the time and had recently been allocated to a local Traveller family. Over the weekend a number of caravans on the Kilbarry site were also destroyed by arsonists.
Gardaí believe the arson attacks and the incident yesterday morning are all linked to a three-way localised Traveller feud. Up to 30 caravans have been squatting on the Kilbarry site illegally in recent years with 12 caravans legally parked. Tensions have increased between those there legally and the squatters.
Before yesterday's shooting and the weekend's arson attacks there was a series of street fights last week and reports of criminal damage to vehicles owned by members of the feuding factions.
The Lord Mayor of Waterford, Cllr Marie O'Halloran (FG), will this morning chair a meeting of local elected representatives to seek ways to calm the situation.
There was a heavy Garda presence around the site last night amid reports that the feuding factions were to be joined by associates from Dublin and the UK.
Armed gardaí were on standby to be called in the event of fresh outbreaks of violence.
Local Sinn Féin councillor and head of the Waterford City Council's Traveller accommodation committee, David Cullinane, said both the council and gardaí have a responsibility to control the situation.
"The primary responsibility is on the minority of Travellers who are involved in this but we can't let it develop any further," he said.
The Kilbarry halting site was the scene of a serious disturbance in May last year when armed gardaí responded to reports of a major public order incident there.