A RALLY IS being held in Drogheda later today against violence in the area, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar set to be in attendance.
People are being asked to assemble at the Bridge of Peace at 1.30pm, with the march beginning at 2pm.
The rally is being held following the gruesome murder of 17-year-old Keane Mulready-Woods who was dismembered.
The murder is believed to be connected to a local feud.
The Mayor of Drogheda confirmed last week that he will hold a rally in the town to allow people to articulate how they feel about the ongoing feud and the killing of the teenager.
Varadkar confirmed to reporters on Thursday that he would be in attendance.
“I do intend to be there,” Varadkar said.
“My office is in discussions with the Mayor of Drogheda just on the arrangements because I do want to be there to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Drogheda, but I don’t want to politicise the event in any way either,” he added.
“We just want to make sure that we have the arrangements right.”
This confirmation comes after Varadkar last week said he couldn’t commit to attending but would consider it.
Speaking last week, he said that “the nation is shocked by the depravity of the murder” and that he himself express his “revulsion and total condemnation” at the killing.
“I really want people to know that crime doesn’t pay, that those who are responsible for this will be brought to justice, and also to encourage anyone who does have information to give it to us because we need to secure convictions here,” he said.
Fianna Fáil’s justice spokesperson Jim O’Callaghan also plans to be in attendance.
“In recent weeks in Ireland, gangland violence has reached new levels with the horrific murder of a 17-year-old child,” O’Callaghan said.
This shocking crime demonstrates the lack of humanity shown by those who carried this crime. It has brought gangland criminality back into the spotlight and is now something which must be addressed.
O’Callaghan will be marching alongside his colleagues Declan Breathnach and Councillor James Byrne. Representatives from other local parties are also expected to attend.
“People are living in fear within their own communities and these thugs carrying out these acts of violence must be stopped,” O’Callaghan said.
Mulready-Woods’ body parts were discovered in Coolock and Drumcondra, both in north Dublin, in the past two weeks.
Gardaí believe there was “no coincidence” about the location of the body parts and are probing if they were left in these areas as a warning to criminal gangs who were associated with Keane.
With reporting by Garreth MacNamee
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