LIMERICK was once again the centre of media attention this week-for all the wrong reasons.
The shooting dead of 35 year-old Roy Collins, as he went about his normal everyday business, was a callous and cowardly act, and one that evoked the sympathy of the entire nation.
His grief-stricken extended family will have to live with these dark days for the remainder of their lives; the rest return to normal duties and unfortunately, Roy Collins will become just another statistic.
Limerick’s feuding gangs shoulder a huge responsibility, and that they have now spread their wings to sending innocent people to their grave, is a frightening prospect for the community at large.
As exclusively reported in the Limerick Post some weeks ago, genuine efforts were put in place to bring feuding families together and agree on a peace pact.
Another local newspaper attempted to rubbish our exclusive, but as the Sunday Independent responsibly reported last weekend, everything was in place to settle differences and lay down guns, with the families concerned having met again in the days prior to the Holy Thursday tragedy.
What impact Roy Collins’ death will have on any final agreement remains to be seen, but it must be pointed out that the Collins family was never associated with gangland figures, other than to tell the truth in court, and for which they have now paid the most severe penalty of all.
They, like citizens of this city and county, want to see an end to the carnage.
The local businessmen and clergy who undertook the difficult task of talking sense into our violent gangs, must be applauded.
Not wishing to draw attention to themselves and their mission, they did not seek any advance publicity. It was because of an investigative piece of journalism by the Limerick Post’s Marie Hobbins, that the story first broke.
We can now only pray and hope that talks will take up from where they left off last week, and that a line is drawn in the sand.
Finally, the Limerick Post congratulates our gardai in their efforts to bring those responsible for the Roy Collins murder to justice.
