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EARLIER THIS MONTH, a man stood outside his car in Corduff, west Dublin, and waited for his little brother to leave school so he could drive him home.
A man ran towards the intended victim holding a gun and fired at least four shots in his direction – each of them missing.
Gardaí have described the man’s survival as miraculous but what they now know is that a bubbling feud on the periphery of west Dublin is boiling over – random retaliations are occurring and both side are targeting innocent family members in assaults and vandalism incidents.
The reason behind this latest feud is a familiar story – it’s about drugs, territory and the right to deal in certain areas.
While the shooting outside a school shocked both locals and those across the country, there were more shocking incidents to follow.
Yesterday morning saw one of the feud’s most brazen attacks.
A man had entered Finglas Garda Station to drop off clothes for someone who had been arrested. As he left, he was set upon by a group of men, one of whom sliced the victim’s neck.
The man managed to make his way back to the garda station and an ambulance was called. He lost a lot of blood in the incident. Gardaí are treating the incident as a case of attempted murder.
Officers investigating the current wave of crime in the area believe that criminals linked to the infamous Westies gang are in a drug turf war with associates of a gang led by a young criminal known for flaunting his wealth on social media, something which has earned him the name of Mr Flashy in both gangland and garda circles.
The feud has reached across all levels of society, with a number of young professionals now involved. Gardaí believed that one man in his 20s who works for a high-end car dealership is now moving significant quantities of cocaine around the northside of Dublin to pay back a drug debt he racked up with one of the gangs.
Now, as penance and as a way of paying off the debt, the man is believed to be moving significant quantities of cocaine around the northside of Dublin.
The feud, as many in Dublin go, has seen innocent members of the extended families of these criminals targeted.
In recent weeks, the homes and property of innocent brothers, sisters, uncles and cousins of the gangland figures have been targeted by vandals.
In one instance, a woman was set upon while walking with her infant child who was in a pram at the time. The pram was pushed into a street and the woman received minor injuries from the assault. The child was physically unharmed.
The tit-for-tat incidents has been ramping up in recent weeks. As a result, armed patrols of areas frequented by the gangs have been increased and units across the Garda K district, which covers Blanchardstown and Finglas, have been told to immediately pass on any intelligence they receive – no matter how insignificant it may seem – to the drugs unit.
Various operations have been conducted by gardaí as a result of the upsurge in crime. Local sources have described how many inside the gangs want the violence to end as it is having a detrimental effect on the amount of money being brought in from drug sales.
Last month, gardaí from Blanchardstown conducted searches in a number of areas in Corduff. During that operation, five sawn-off shotguns, ammunition, a crossbow, and a quantity of cannabis herb were seized.
Superintendent Liam Carolan said at the time that “adequate Garda resources are being utilised to deal with this investigation and are supported by Garda National Units including the Armed Support Unit”.
He added: “We are very conscious of the needs of the people and the sentiments that are being expressed by people living in the Corduff area. Significant progress has been made regarding this investigation.”
Just two weeks after those seizures, Lee Boylan was shot a number of times as he sat in a van in Mulhuddart, west Dublin. Boylan, who is in his mid 20s, was shot a number of times as he sat in a van in traffic at the junction of Blakestown road and Huntstown Way,
He was treated at the scene by emergency services personnel and removed by ambulance to Connolly Hospital.
Gardaí in the area are hoping for extra resources to deal with the feud.
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Has to be one of the worst stations to call into to speak to a Guard at the reception counter. You could be waiting 10 minutes for a Guard to come to the counter. All the walls and doors in the reception area has graffiti all over them that someone freely tagged their name on. Not surprised a person can be stabbed outside the station and not arrested.
Bring back Lugs Brannigan
@Niall Nordell: Unlike their grand parents, the skum of today would have respect for Lugs.
@Shawn Rahoon: they would just shoot Lugs but I like your thinking
Wouldn’t it be nice if they all these “gangsters” just dropped dead? That way kids could go to school in peace
Is it not plain to see now that legalization and taxation could help solve a lot of these issues, separate the addict from the pusher(now murderers) this problem Is a result of prohibition and drugs only being available on the black market.
@Rob SharpeDj: put the billions earned on taxation into education, security and recovery
@Rob SharpeDj: think about that for a minute, what do you think the criminals will do. Get honest jobs? They’ll push the next most lucrative thing if anything was legalised. It’s not as simple as legslise this and that and all these bad guys will just go away.
@EdmundOrlando: That would be my thinking as well ,those thug’s have got use to big money and they will find another way to get it
There is no answer to that problem unless you gather them up put them in a sack and drown them
The amount of cures that come out the project’s against the amount of people that are starting to be addict’s would appear to be a waste of time although I suppose something has to be done .Holland has somewhat legalised it how is it working for them does anyone know .I mean really know not just the pot heads that go for weekends to buzz their heads in the coffee shops whatever
@Rob SharpeDj: I have to disagree Rob, making it legal won’t solve anything, it would just make things worse. Look up the “Gin Craze” in London during the first half of the 18th century. It led to mothers killing their own babies so they could sell their clothes for money to buy gin.
I have no personal experience with drugs thankfully, however had they been so freely available when I was younger who knows.
I don’t have a solution unfortunately, however personally I don’t think that making something so powerful legal would solve anything.
I do believe that tougher sentences in prison for drug related activities and shootings/attempted murder might help. We need to invest more money into our prison system and arm our Gardaí.
@EdmundOrlando: I never said these guys would go away but my point is that if they are made legal then the people addicted to drugs can avail of them from a legitimate source and not a criminal murderer who may do harm to the addict and now seems any relative to that addict.
If a major source of income is taken away from gangster and put into healthcare, addiction clinics, hospitals, education, I really don’t see how is this a bad thing.
There will always be new criminals with new ways of making money but you have to start somewhere, tackle the drugs issue First, then whatever other routes these criminals take after that.. ya have to start somewhere instead of letting it be as it is because they might do something else if we don’t..
@Rob SharpeDj: most of the small time dealers that are the bread and butter for larger criminals only start dealing to cover either a bill they have or to be able to have access to drugs at all time
They are too busy harassing the general public going about their business to tackle the real dangerous guys and everyone knows it
have your say