Moran murder investigation: five arrested

Gardai investigating the murder of 26 year old Thomas Moran in November of last year have arrested five people today.

Two men and three women, in their 20s and 30s, were arrested at 8am this morning.

Mr. Moran was shot dead some time around midnight on November 12/13.He had gone to the drugs pusher and it is understood he was refused drugs. Some time later, an attempt was made to attack the house where the drug dealer was residing.

One theory is that he owed money to the drugs dealer and was not given a “fix” when he went in search for heroin that night.It was the morning after that the body of the man was found on waste ground in the area.

Student ‘kidnapped’ on UL campus

Limerick Gardai have confirmed they are investigating an alleged kidnapping incident on the grounds of The University of Limerick.

The incident happened on Monday as a male student was driving along the grounds of the college. Reports say two men wearing Barney the Dinosaur masks approached the car, pulled a knife and demanded the freighted man drive them to Dublin airport.

In a bizarre turn of events the kidnappers allegedly gave the young driver €500 when they arrived at the airport "to cover the cost of the trip".

However NewsWire has learned that within the college a Rag Week competition is currently running for students that if they get on the national news, they win a prize.

Deirdre O' Shaughnessy Publications and Publicity Officer for The University of Limerick Students' Union told the NewsWire,

"The competition we are running is a charity event called “The Great Race”. Students must raise sponsorship of €500 for charities including Milford Hospice in order to compete.

One of the tasks is to get on the national news, but this alone will not win students a prize, and they would have to be named if it was a newspaper, so this event is unlikely to be related. Also, the Great Race does not begin until this weekend, so this coverage would not be eligible."

The spokeswoman also said that The Students Union has been campaigning for a long time for better security on the campus,

Obviously we are concerned for the safety of our students and, should these allegations prove true, the student in question will have our full support. We have been looking for increased security measures on campus for some time now..

Students’ Union President St. John Ó Donnabháin said in a statement this evening,

“This is obviously a serious incident and we hope the student is doing ok. The Students’ Union is completely committed to helping our students in any way we can. We hope that the improved security will guarantee students’ safety into the future.”

Gardai are also taking the matter seriously, a formal complaint has been made by the driver of the car, a 1st year student at the college.

The University Of Limerick say they are treating the reports very seriously.

Kayaking up the Curragower falls

Ever wanted to see what it looks like to Kayak up the Curragower falls. These lads have posted a very interesting clip from what looks like an onboard camera as they do just that.

A unique view, Looks like fun.

Youtube Video,

McCabe killer due out in May

Reports today say one of the killers of Limerick Detective Garda Gerry McCabe is due to be released form prison in May, a move which would see him possibly released on near the General Election.

Michael O'Neill (left) will be a free man on May 17th after serving eight years out of an 11-year sentence for manslaughter.

The IRA member has a legal entitlement to remission for good behaviour.

Prisoners in Ireland have a legal right to remission of one-quarter of their sentence, dependant on their behaviour while in prison.

In O’Neill’s case, it means he must serve only eight years of his 11-year sentence, and provided he does not come to the prison authorities’ attention in the coming
weeks, will be released on May 17.

O’Neill is not the first person convicted in relation to the robbery to be released. A fifth man, John Quinn, received a six-year sentence for conspiring with others to commit robbery, and was released with remission in 2003.

However, O’Neill will be the first of the four killers to be freed.

Via Examiner

Det Garda McCabe was shot dead during an attempted robbery outside an Adare post office, in Co Limerick in June 1996.

200 jobs confirmed lost at Thompson Scientific

A Limerick Software plant has confirmed today that it will be shedding 200 jobs following a 30-day period of consultation with employees.

The Thompson Scientific plant warned the jobs may be lost back in January after it proposed to transfer work from its facilities in Limerick, Glasgow, Manchester, London and the US to its facilities in India.

Pat Delaney, a member of IBEC spoke after hearing the decision saying,

"It's costing them more to produce their products and they're getting less on foreign markets.Unless we do something radical we'll be reading business obituaries like this every day of the week."

The process of letting go 200 employees is expected to take 18 months.

Limericks first detective superintendent takes up his post

Limerick is to get its first detective superintendent in a bid to tackle serious crime.

Det Supt Jim Browne, a native of Mallow Co. Cork will oversee all detective units in the Limerick division when he takes up his new position tomorrow.

The Examiner,

The appointment of a detective superintendent in Limerick is seen as a major vote of confident by the Garda management in the force in the division.

The detective branch in the division now has a detective superintendent, two detective inspectors and seven detective sergeants.

Chief Supt Willie Keane, head of the Limerick Garda division said yesterday the appointment of Det Supt Browne will give a new impetus to the fight against serious crime in Limerick, given his experience having served as a detective sergeant and detective inspector.

He said: "This will impact on feud-related crime and crimes involving drugs. With his years of service in Limerick, he has a great knowledge of the city."

Chief Supt Keane continued: "This appointment is a very positive step. We have had on-going serious crime issues to deal with in the city and we have a very good level of expertise, which is borne out by very significant successes."

Det Supt Browne has been a member of the Gardai for more than 30 years and has served most of his career in the Limerick detective branch.

Four arrested after gun seizures

Gardai have arrested four people over the weekend after seizing two firearms in the city.

Around 5pm yesterday, a Garda patrol stopped a car on the Ballysimon Road where they found one of the two occupants to be carrying a pistol. Both were arrested at the scene and brought to Mayorstone Garda Station.

The holder of the pistol, a 21 year old from the St. Mary’s Park area of the city, was formally charged today with the possession of the 9mm handgun. He made no reply when charged.

In a separate event, Gardai searched a house in the Corbally area of the city where they found a rifle. Two men both in their 20’s were arrested at the location. They were released late Sunday and a file has been sent to the DPP.

Limerick criminal out of jail next week: Report

A notorious and feared Limerick criminal is to be freed form a London jail this week according to today’s News of the World.

Hyde road native Kenneth Dundon was jailed for 6 years for manslaughter last September however taking into account he was arrested in 2004 and parole, the paper suggests he is due out next week.

The 48-year-old was jailed for stabbing a love rival in the head, killing him, in the Hemsworth area of London in 2003.Now Gardai in Limerick are said to be on red alert as they fear once he is free, he will come straight home.

A ‘Garda source’ told the Sunday tabloid,

“He’s a nasty piece of work and we have no doubt that he’ll get back to his old
tricks. A leopard doesn’t change his spots, so we’ll be monitoring him
closely."

Mr. Dundons lawyer Giovanni Di Stefano told the paper that his client will be out of jail in the next few days to do “whatever he is interested in”.

He was arrested by Gardai in Limerick back in 2004 due to a European bench warrant being issued for him in relation to the incident. He was extradited from Ireland to the UK.

Arrests in Crawford murder investigation

Gardai have arrested four people in connection with the murder of Limerick man Noel Crawford last year.

Reports say up to 50 Gardai from the local Drugs Squad and National Bureau of Criminal Investigation were involved in this morning’s operation along with local detectives.

The three adults and a teenage boy were arrested and brought to separate Garda stations around the city.

Cocaine and cannabis, and a quantity of ammunition were also found during the planned raids.

City Beggers are just ‘making handy money’

Limerick city has seen a substantial rise in the number of foreign nationals coming to the city to beg and take advantage of people's good will, it has been reported today.

Gardai have advised citizens today not to give money to beggers in the city saying they often have permanent addresses in Dublin and are very often far from poverty stricken.

Sgt Liam Sheehan spoke today to Live95FM saying,

“If you have hassle from any of these people, call Henry Street straight away and someone will go down and hopefully deal with them. I would ask people not to be giving these people money as it is only making the matter worse and the problem will always be there if people continue to hand out money to these individuals.

They are clearly doing this for the purpose of making handy money and not because they are in any dire straits or anything like that.”

More from the Limerick Post.

A low blow from the Galway Advertiser

Will someone read the strange article below in the Galway Advertiser and explain to me why Limerick had to be dragged into it!

Heuston, we’ve got a pussy problem - by Declan Varley (editor of the paper above)

A swipe at Limerick?