Limerick Feud Appeal Ignored by Police

Saturday February 01, 2003 13:31

by Republican

The awful suffering and tragedy caused by feuding in Limerick could have been avoided if the police had agreed to a mediator last October, Republican Sinn Féin said today.

RSF community affairs spokesman Seán O'Neill said that in October last he had warned that lives would be lost unless the escalating conflict was resolved by an independent mediator.

"We issued our statement because of a shooting incident adjacent to a city school and stated at the time it was an indication of how the situation could spiral out of control," said Mr. O'Neill.

"Of course the police ridiculed our suggestion and threw mud and dirt but we have been proven right - and it is tragic that we were right and the situation did escalate to the present appalling set of circumstances.

"At the time we said that there was too much fear in the community and some attempt should be made to ensure that the feuding was brought to a halt.

"We acted simply out of concern for innocent people and we also warned that the ongoing feuding was creating an adverse national impression of Limerick.

"Of course it would have been far more honest for the police to admit that they were not on top of the situation rather than to ridicule Republican Sinn Féin and throw mud in the hope that it would divert attention from their failure to protect the lives of the people of Limerick."

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Comments (2 of 2)

Bad Feeling about the Feud. The State benefits are ....

by Terry

Sat Feb 01, 2003 18:39

That's interesting to see that there was some chance of a mediator.

While the feud is awful, I just get this terrible feeling that for the State at least it has got certain benefits out of it and these are:

By having the Emergency Response unit of 40 armed police on the streets, it normalizes this behaviour. Obviously things got so bad, I am assuming they were welcomed by the people in Limerick.

However, perhaps by not mediating, the State knew it would get this bad, and hey presto this could be the start of a long (say 5 or 10 year) campaign, to slowly increase the para-military section of the police/garda

This is what has happened in the US, over the last 20 years or so. At this stage almost every police precint has it's own SWAT team/paramilitary unit. The sight of such units has increased dramatically over the years both in frequency and geographically. It is a way of getting the populace used to it, without causing too much resistance.

I suspect they expect trouble ahead as globalisation settles in and the division between the rich and poor grows bigger. When then trouble does arrive, people will already be used to seen armed police on the streets and it will thus be easier to take repressive actions to suppress them.

We have to ask ourselves, while this feud is quite personal, the organised crime and drug stuff is a clear and important backdrop. Why then not attack the reasons so many people feel they have to take drugs? That would ultimately solve it. It is no coincidence that drug use is very high in the poorest and most deprived areas. The real problem is the continual injustice of poverty and welfare for Corporations and the tax amnesty and breaks for the Rich.

So watch out when the ER unit is used again by the government. Of course it is going to take a good few years to notice, but by that time if I am correct he will have arrived at the Police State like conditions now existing in the US today and
which of course serves to protect the elites, like
those billionaries the masses adore in the wraped Orwellian like manner.

Original RSF news release

Sat Feb 01, 2003 19:43

RSF APPEAL FOR END TO FEUD

Sat, 26 Oct 2002

An offer has been made by the Limerick branch of the Republican Sinn Fein organisation to act as a peace brokerbetween feuding families in the city before someone is shot dead.

RSF spokesman Sean O'Neill said that the inter-family feuding has now reached alarming proportions and the latest incident where shots were fired adjacent to a school in St. Mary's Parish is an indication of how the situation may
spiral out of control.

"We are concerned that innocent people may be killed if this type of indiscriminate activity continues," said Mr.O'Neill. "There is too much fear in the community and it is time that some real effort was made to ensure that the feuding is brought to a halt for the safety of all those
said to be involved in the ongoing rows.

"We in Republican Sinn Fein are concerned about the threat to innocent people and say that no one should live under the fear of being attacked or shot down. Therefore we are now making a move to offer one of our members as a peace broker between those who are said to be involved in the current feuding as it is causing serious concern in the communities affected by such actions.

"The ongoing feuding is also giving an adverse national impression of Limerick and the image of the city is also suffering in the media -therefore we now appeal for an end to the disputes and ask that they be settled around a table with a genuine peace broker acting as an independent observer whose recommendations will be accepted by all sides said to be involved in these feuds.

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Limerick Feud Appeal Ignored by Police

Comments (2 of 2)