A diary of life in Hell

"It was never as bad as this" says Garda source
In a Press Release sent to the NewsWire, Limerick Sinn Fein general election candidate Maurice Quinlivan has expressed concerns over the accuracy of the latest crime figures that have been released to him.And shares with us the daily sh*t that one resident has to put up with living in Moyross(right).

Mr. Quinlivan states,

I am very concerned that crime figures just released to me are not reflecting the reality of the situation in parts of Limerick. The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when questioned by Deputy Aengus O'Snodaigh TD on my behalf revealed that "there have been four incidents involving a petrol bomb in the Limerick Garda Division to date in 2006".

Whilst the Minister also says the figures are provisional, operational and liable to change they seem extremely low and wildly inaccurate when you stop and reflect on some of the incidents that have taken place in Limerick throughout the year. During the weekend of 8th– 11th of September alone we saw a minimum of 20 petrol bombs thrown at the Gardai in one small housing estate. Petrol bombs were thrown on Friday the 8th September in a co-ordinated attack against the Gardai.

I was a witness to events on Saturday the 9th September when Gardai were once again attacked with petrol bombs. That weekend culminated in the horrific attack on Sunday afternoon against young Gavin and Millie Murray. The figures supplied by the Tánaiste unfortunately could in no way be reflective of the reality on the ground. I have recently been given a log that a local resident in the Delmege Park area has kept and the amount of incidents contained in it are simply mind boggling. It is almost impossible to conceive that all this activityhas taken place in such a small area.”

Along with his comments Mr Quinlivan also attached a diary(below) of a resident living in Delmage Park. The person who remains anonymous describes the daily events the good people of the area have had to put up with in the last 2 months:

I live in Delmege Park with my partner and young family. We are an ordinary family, who have never been involved in crime and have no associations with those involved in the incidents listed on my log sheet.

Delmege Park is a small estate in Moyross. There are approximately 120 occupied houses in the estate. I believe about 40 houses are now vacant. Many people have moved out recently and if I was in a position I would move also.

Due to the unbelievable number of events that have taken place recently I decided to keep a log of events, which I personally witnessed or have heard (gun fire / people’s terrified responses etc) in the last few weeks.

The following list is unfortunately not exhaustive but is what I logged and remember. There have been numerous incidents, which I can’t recall exact details of so I haven’t listed them. Below is my log to the best of my memory.

8th September Gardai petrol bombed by groups of youths
9th September Gardai petrol bombed again by groups of youths. Trouble began about 22.30 and lasted until around 02.30am.
9th September house burned out in Pineview Gardens
10 September Gavin and Millie Murray almost incinerated in their mother’s car
Bungalow petrol bombed in Pineview.
17 September Frankie Ryan shot dead yards from my house.
22 September – 5 separate shooting incidents in Delmege Park
23 September peace rally Limerick City hall
24 September House attacked and later a woman and 14 year old shot and injured
27 September residents meeting in community centre- many promises
30 September arms find Delmege Park

3rd October Arms find Delmege park
8th October Sheila Murray’s home attacked
10th October drive by shooting- young lad shot
Woman crashes car into garden fence after firework thrown at her- forgot date
11th October arms find Delmege
12th October Bomb squad – area sealed off
18th October Pat Kenny meets 3 young lads with weapons
27th October 51 Delmege Park shot up.
31October - petrol bombs attacks in Delmege at least 2 houses attacked.

Early October 2pm day time shots fired from Pineview to Delmege, just as kids on way home from school.Car hit by bullet same day- I believe there was kids in car at time
Next days 4pm shots again fired from Pineview.

01 November 63 Delmege burned out
3rd November Shots fired Delmege Park
2nd or 3rd November House petrol bombed.
05 November gun found on the bus to City centre.
5 November machine guns fired minimum 30-40 shots fired 3 cars and 4 houses hit in Delmege Park.
9th November 11.55pm shots fired.
10th November 11.05pm robbed car stopped with a stinger
11th November shot fired 20.20pm Delmege Park
14th November 00.10am 6 shots fired, 25 minutes later 8-10 shots fired
15th November 22.35 2 shots fired at a house after bricks thrown window Delmege Park.
17th November house shot at Delmege Park.
19th November 5.05am shots fired in Delmege Park

Car fired at as driving through the estate. Not 100% of date early November.

In the period of this log there have been a number of others burned.
A large number of houses in my estate are now vacant as those who can have left the area.

I can honestly say that I have forgotten many events that have taken place.

We now live in a situation whereby we are unable to let ours kids out to play as we are genuinely in fear for their lives.


Dated 20th November


Shocking to read I must say. Mr Quinlivan again implores people to report crime when they see it,

I am personally very concerned that some people now feel that there is no point in reporting even serious crime. I would urge all people who witness crime to report it to the Garda and urge the Gardai here in the city to re examine their approach to the collection of crime figures.