by Andrew Carey
“IT won’t be long before there’s another murder here”.
That was the stark prediction from a Limerick city centre resident who claims the area he is living in has descended into a “rundown ghetto”.
The 36-year-old father of two is living in the Mount Kennett apartment complex and spoke to the Limerick Post on the basis on anonymity as he is in fear of either himself or his family being attacked for speaking out.
“Sometime after 3am last Saturday, I was woken by the usual amount of roaring and shouting that goes on. Except this time when I looked out my window, I saw two men fighting at the door of the apartment complex. One of them had a knife.
“The dispute seemed to centre around a girl and they were definitely on something – they were all wired up”.
He went on to describe how one man tried to get to the other inside the front door of the complex, brandished the knife and beating it off the window.
“He was threatening the other man and saying how he would cut him up like a pig. This went on for about ten minutes or so and it was highly fuelled”.
“It won’t be long before there is another murder here if this keeps going on. Drugs are a big problem and there is a big attraction for users to come around here. Some are residents, others are friends of residents and some are just up to no good.”
“I have to stay here for another while before I can move my family out of here. I know there are many others like me who want out. The thing is, there are decent people here, but this place is like a rundown ghetto at times”.
The return of prostitutes is also another problem in the area.
“They are back on the streets beside us and in the apartments offering their services at all times of the day. I can’t be bringing my kids up around this”, the man said.
A senior Garda source confirmed that they are conducting surveillance in the area and that there is a new pimp running the vice trade in the area. They have identified him as a dangerous criminal from Eastern Europe who operates with his own minders, has previous convictions for armed robbery in another jurisdiction, as well as assault and public order offences in Ireland.
Meanwhile, Chief Superintendent Dave Sheahan has said that Gardaí are confronting anti-social and criminal behaviour in the area. He said they are stepping up their presence around Mount Kennett, Henry Street and the adjoining streets.
