This article is from page 17 of the 2006-05-16 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
THE second gangland murder in Clare in less than seven months has sparked fears that Limerick gangs will continue to use the area to conduct criminal activity.
Nineteen-year-old Aidan Kelly, a small-time criminal from Moyross in Limerick, was shot up to five times in a laneway in Blackwater, at around 11pm last Wednesday night. Kelly was alive when he was discovered but was pronounced dead a short time later at the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick.
According to gardai involved in the investigation, he was “lured to the area” and shot dead. A rifle, found close to his body in his Opel Astra car, was taken away for analysis but gardai say they believe it was not the murder weapon.
The shooting happened just yards from the home of Sean Poland, a car salesman who was shot dead on New Year’s Eve in 2002.
This latest killing in the quiet area is a further devastating blow for east Clare. Last October, the people of Parteen were plunged into shock, when Limerick man David Nunan (25) was killed in gangland style and his body was found in a laneway.
Limerick gardai are investigating all three murders, as these parts of east Clare are in the Limerick Garda Division. Clare Chief Supt Liam Quinn said areas like Blackwater are monitored by criminal gangs from Limerick.
“It is very much a Limerick issue. These areas are obviously chosen specifically from a criminal’s point of view,” he said.
He said that while there are few garda resources in east Clare, it is no different to any other rural part of the country.
“There are few garda resources in all of rural Ireland. It could just as easily have been in rural Limerick,” he said.
Fine Gael Justice spokesman Jim O’Keeffe said people all over rural Ireland are particularly concerned about gangland crime, which is no longer confined to the large urban centres.
“There is an overspill of gangland crime and this brings home to people it is not just for cities.
“We have mobile criminals now and this is a worrying development. This is another reason for ensuring garda numbers in rural Ireland are not reduced.
“If criminals feel under too much pressure in urban areas, there is a tendency to converge on relatively remote areas, areas where there is no police strength,” said Deputy O’Keeffe.
East Clare Labour Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald said last Wednesday’s murder again highlights the need for more gardai in the area.
“We need the extra gardai that we have been promised. This is the third death in the area in three years and the other two haven’t been solved,” he said.
“Blackwater is a nice, quiet community, but people do not see enough gardai in the area. Some people here are worried that this is the second murder in less than a year in the area,” he said.