Travellers on the rampage in Meath

ejmaztec wrote: »

In before the boulder.

Long-standing bad blood between two Traveller families, the McDonaghs and Nevins, reared its head again last week when, on Wednesday night 29th July, a grenade exploded at a house in Reask Green, apparently in revenge for an earlier beating of a man who had to be hospitalised.

At around 2pm on Wednesday, a member of one family in his 20s was involved in a confrontation on the Commons Road. The man and a family member got out of the van he was driving and got into a fight with two members of the rival family.

The driver of the van was beaten so badly, he had to be hospitalised with what is believed to be a broken arm, head wounds and other arm and leg injuries.

A group of around 20 people congregated at the scene of the melee and several weapons were produced. The three other men were also hospitalised in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, with various injuries and range in age from 17 to early 40s. Two members of each family were hospitalised and the van also sustained damage, including a hammered-in windscreen.

Gardai calmed building tensions in the area after the incident but, at 12.05am, what was initially thought to have been a pipe bomb but which turned out to be a grenade, exploded at the home of a member of one of the families, blowing in the windows but causing only minor damage.

The fact that no-one was home means the grenade was most likely intended as a message rather than an attempt on the residents' lives. A youth dressed in black was reported to have been seen running from the house.

The following day, Thursday, a petrol bomb exploded at the same address after a similar flare-up at around 10pm. The petrol bomb was thrown through a window and exploded inside the house. Fire units were called to the scene but damage was slight. Again, no-one was hurt in the attack and gardai on both occasions conducted door-to-door enquiries and forensic tests.

On Friday, after search warrants were granted, gardai carried out searches on three houses in Reask Court, several outhouses and two caravans and confiscated slashhooks, golf clubs, clawhammers and iron bars. Navan Gardai, the Regional Support Unit, Trim and Kells Gardai and the Meath Traffic Corps were all involved in the searches.

On the back of those searches, a 19-year-old from Reask was arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and was held overnight in relation to the petrol bomb attack and two further arrests were made. A man also volunteered to go to Navan Garda Station, which is thought to have gone a long way to calming tensions.

Incorrect rumours circulated around Navan over the weekend that trouble would return either on Cemetery Sunday, or on Monday or Tuesday of this week (4th and 5th July), but thankfully never materialised.

Gardai are keen to emphasise that the groups involved are a "tiny minority" of Traveller groups they work with and that people living in the Reask area have nothing to do with "two groups who can be problematic when things boil over".

Councillor Joe Reilly, who works with Traveller groups in Navan, said "what's happening is wrong".

He added: "The attacks are wrong. The intimidation of both families is wrong. There needs to be a long-term solution because it is not fair to the people of Reask, Navan or the Travelling community. This does nothing good for the Travelling cause and mature heads are needed for a long-term solution, and local authorities and gardai will have to be part of that," he said.

irish-stew wrote: »

Ps. Lets try not to tar all travellers with one brush here,