In short

A round-up of today's other stories in brief

A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Daytime walk through city area with shotgun leads to arrest

A man in his 40s was in Garda custody last night after he was discovered walking through a neighbourhood with a shotgun in broad daylight.

Gardaí seized the firearm in the Ballinacurra Weston area of Limerick city shortly after 9am yesterday. They were alerted after the man was reported acting suspiciously there.

Members of the Detective Unit at Roxboro Garda station confronted the individual, who had a long-barrelled shotgun, and arrested him. A Garda spokesman said there was no stand-off, and “the issue was dealt with very quickly”.

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The shotgun was not loaded, and gardaí do not believe the incident is linked to any feud or gangland activity in Limerick.

It is believed the incident may be connected to a domestic dispute. The man was being held last night for questioning under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.

Heroin warning on children in Limerick

Children as young as 10 are becoming addicted to heroin in Limerick, and their families have had their lives threatened by criminal gangs due to drug debts, a local priest and activist claims.

Fr Joe Young, formerly a parish priest of Southill, said many devastated parents across the city and county have contacted him about heroin-addicted children.

Fr Young, chaplain with the Brothers of Charity in Bawnmore, said children were being introduced to heroin by "drug barons" who were "using these children as drug mules". Limerick, he said, was "in absolute total denial about the extent of heroin" there. He has been campaigning for a halfway house for recovering heroin addicts near Limerick. Funds have yet to become available.

Limerick boy remains critical

Prayers continued to be said in Co Limerick yesterday for a nine-year-old boy seriously injured after a golf ball struck him in the head in a freak accident.

Jamie Mullane-Forest, from Shanagolden, in Co Limerick, remained in a critical condition in Beaumont Hospital last night following the tragic accident on Tuesday. The boy was out playing with friends when he was hit by the golf ball in the back of the head.