Steve Collins leaves Ireland

Spread

My name is URL wrote: »

They're no longer in a witness protection program. They'll keep their identities wherever they move to afaik.

Cannot see that happening ........ regardless of what statements the Gardai release. However, I wish them the best. Limerick owes the Collins family. If there were more people like him there, these mutants would not have been able to take root. AFAIK, a newspaper did a story back a few years ago stating that ........... some of these were the offspring of Black & Tans. Anyone remember that story?

Got it ........... here 'tis:

Black and Tans still terrorising Limerick!
I READ the Mail on Sunday last week. It wasn't by choice, but it was fascinating in the same way that celebrity reality television can be for some people I suppose. The reason was a number of very amused texts from republicans telling me the paper was claiming that the thugs running the Limerick drugs gangs were descended from the Black and Tans.
Larissa Nolan, who seems to have moved from frothy gossip for the Sunday Independent to being a crime correspondent (Good grief) writes that, "Senior gardaí sent to solve the serious crime problem in the city believe that some of the most infamous crime gangs in Limerick are direct descendents of the Black and Tans."
Showing the mark of a journalist trained in the intellectual crucible of the Sindo Larissa manages to base the article on quotes from an unnamed Garda source and an unnamed Limerick historian. Names Nolan, you need names.
Anyway, it's not clear what the point of the whole piece is. According to Ms Nolan the gardaí were tipped off because, "The main crime gangs bear distinctly British names like Collopy, Campion, Dundon, Stanners and Crawford, a fact which aroused the interest of gardaí looking at the case."
Did it? Did it really? One of the biggest criminal investigations in the history of the state. Massive political and media pressure on the gardaí to break up the gangs and you can just imagine them sitting round the staff room wondering whether they can prove the gangs have, and she did use this phrase, ‘bad blood’ because, ‘..it helps to understand the problem’.
Maybe Nolan thinks we should just automatically lock up people descended from the Tans. Actually, come to think of it....

Spread

charlemont wrote: »

I don't think anybody said the above is true...But if that's how you want to interpret it then fine.

This was said tongue in cheek.

Downlinz

Bullseye1 wrote: »

We should put all of these people and their families on an island and replicate "Battle Royal".

Wouldn't that mean one survives?

Itsdacraic

Spread wrote: »

Cannot see that happening ........ regardless of what statements the Gardai release. However, I wish them the best. Limerick owes the Collins family. If there were more people like him there, these mutants would not have been able to take root. AFAIK, a newspaper did a story back a few years ago stating that ........... some of these were the offspring of Black & Tans. Anyone remember that story?

Got it ........... here 'tis:

Black and Tans still terrorising Limerick!
I READ the Mail on Sunday last week. It wasn't by choice, but it was fascinating in the same way that celebrity reality television can be for some people I suppose. The reason was a number of very amused texts from republicans telling me the paper was claiming that the thugs running the Limerick drugs gangs were descended from the Black and Tans.
Larissa Nolan, who seems to have moved from frothy gossip for the Sunday Independent to being a crime correspondent (Good grief) writes that, "Senior gardaí sent to solve the serious crime problem in the city believe that some of the most infamous crime gangs in Limerick are direct descendents of the Black and Tans."
Showing the mark of a journalist trained in the intellectual crucible of the Sindo Larissa manages to base the article on quotes from an unnamed Garda source and an unnamed Limerick historian. Names Nolan, you need names.
Anyway, it's not clear what the point of the whole piece is. According to Ms Nolan the gardaí were tipped off because, "The main crime gangs bear distinctly British names like Collopy, Campion, Dundon, Stanners and Crawford, a fact which aroused the interest of gardaí looking at the case."
Did it? Did it really? One of the biggest criminal investigations in the history of the state. Massive political and media pressure on the gardaí to break up the gangs and you can just imagine them sitting round the staff room wondering whether they can prove the gangs have, and she did use this phrase, ‘bad blood’ because, ‘..it helps to understand the problem’.
Maybe Nolan thinks we should just automatically lock up people descended from the Tans. Actually, come to think of it....

Did you read that the weekend just gone?

A google reveals similar articles from as far back as 2005!

Spread

Itsdacraic wrote: »

Did you read that the weekend just gone?

A google reveals similar articles from as far back as 2005!

Hmmmmmm! Interesting. If true, how come they didn't get sorted whilst guests in Portlaoise?

Welease

Riddle101 wrote: »

F*ck sake, his son was shot dead because he refused someone from the gang entry to the pub. These guys have chips on their shoulders, it's a shame that our justice system is a sham because if this happened in the US for instance, they wouldn't be throwing their weight around, they'd be more cautious but that's another topic really.

Its worth nothing, that they refused entry to Wayne Dundons 14 year old sister.. and for that he was executed... Damned if you do (and lose your licence).. dead if you don't..

Randy Anders

It would genuinely make my day to hear that these scumbags were all killed in an ''accidental fire''

Logical Fallacy

Manic Moran wrote: »

Seriously? These are just misunderstood people who just want to make a living selling drugs, and the fact that a family is going through huge upheaval is the result of the government's drug policy? Not because the criminals in question have no respect for laws or life? I'm sure that if drugs were more legally accruals, they would be honest, law abiding people who wouldn't harm a fly...

From my own experience it is a mistake to separate the drugs issue and the criminal gang/family issue in Limerick, the two of them are very much interlinked.

While I don't believe that the legalisation of drugs would instantly change the way things are down there I do believe that these criminal families need to be attacked by the law, constantly and efficently, in an effort to reduce the profitability of what they do.

It will require a huge combination of issues from sterner and actually enforced sentences, removal of revenue streams, efforts within the community themselves to undermine these scum. It's a complex issue, i don't think people in this thread should throw the baby out with the bathwater. The efforts of AGS and the government to reduce the power these gangs hold has failed, and something new needs to be done. I think most of us can agree on that.

I've been face to face with these ****ing pricks, I've had friends gunned down outside their house in the middle of the night as these scumbags exercised their criminal minds. I've stood face to face with chaps who just got out of jail and were out on the town celebrating their new found freedom and can pretty much guarantee you that the term "no respect for human life" doesn't quite cover the attitudes of these people.

The simple truth is what gives them cause for their chosen action is the rewards they can get from it and the fact that sentences are a ****ing joke. Who the hell is going to stand there and give evidence against a group of people who have proven time and again that if you rock their boat they will come after you and your family.

The current method of operation by the powers that be is a joke and has left decent people all over this country to stand alone against the scum that terrorise them. It's ****ing sickening.

Duggys Housemate

Legalising drugs may, or may not work. Its a counter factual, and off topic. The real issue here is that the State is less powerful than the drug lords, which is where Mexico has been for the last decade or so. In effect Collins left because the State could not protect him. It couldn't protect him with an armed guard, nor could it witness locate him. Which is a win for the drug lords - effectively they have silenced their critics, and any witness now has the option of getting shot, or getting out.

LH Pathe

the Steve Collins I know is more famous for being sporting, what a contrast.

Good grass, I guess.

LH Pathe

this guy ultimately did nothing but just be. Problem was; his son got killed which implicated him - savage. there's a terrible brazenness in Limericks gangland in comparison to Dublin's conniving. Almost a do worse / get done quicker attitude, that'll learn em.. The Collins will soo know the good life.. sometimes we have to be lifted out of our comfort zone to realize how feckin awful it truly was

gamgsam

It's awful that the family feel the need to leave and it's awful what they have been put through over something as normal as refusing to let a 14 year old into a bar. I hope they somehow regain a normal life and can be somewhat happy. I knew Leann through an ex when I was around 15. She was sound out then, and I'd say she hasn't changed much. I wish them all the best of luck.

charlemont

Good news, He'll be back for any trials.

http://www.herald.ie/news/ill-be-back-as-a-witness-3061141.html

STEVE Collins today vowed he will be back – to give evidence against his son's killers.

The businessman was forced to move his family abroad after three years of constant death threats by the sociopathic Dundon gang in Limerick.

The gangsters had murdered Steve’s son Roy.

Speaking as he departed, Steve told the killers: "I'll be back to see you all jailed. I will be coming back as a witness for any further murder trials."

"I am determined to see justice done for Roy and to see this through to the end," Mr Collins added.

"I am confident that the gardai in Limerick are going to charge some of the Dundons and their henchman Nathan Killeen with murder.

"They (the Dundons) might have thought that they had won some kind of victory when the news broke about us leaving, but they won't be smiling for long."

Mr Collins and his family have lived in constant danger from Wayne and John Dundon and their vicious mob since their son Roy was gunned down at the family's business three years ago.

Roy (34) was shot dead in his casino on April 9, 2009, four years after members of his family testified against Wayne Dundon.

Dundon was convicted of threatening to kill Steve Collins's adopted son, Ryan Lee.

Gunman

Ryan, who was shot twice by a masked gunman at Brannigan's pub in 2004 after he refused entry to Wayne Dundon's underage sister, remains under protection.

Mr Collins, his wife Carmel and their adult children, Steve Jnr and Leeann flew out of Shannon Airport yesterday afternoon on an Aer Lingus flight.

However, armed gardai will continue to protect extended members of the Collins family.

Before leaving the country yesterday, Mr Collins said he wanted his family to have a normal life and not to be looking over their shoulder.

"It is too much. Everywhere we go, the guards have to go with us. It is not a normal life," Mr Collins said.

"The trauma of the past three years became too much for us as a family.

"We have had to live with the constant threat that the Dundons and their henchmen will do everything in their power to undermine our quality of life.

Identities

"We are going to start a new life but we are not going into hiding and not losing our identities.

"You are constantly thinking what could happen next. It is time for us to move on and unfortunately we cannot do that in Limerick with everything that has happened. I want what is best for my family.

"It's hard enough to lose a child and live with grief like that but there has been the constant threat. Carmel and I have been worried every day about our children's safety."

He said his adult children had no future in this country.

"This situation is intolerable for young people who are trying to live their lives ... what kind of future could they hope for here?

"We realised that they (McCarthy-Dundons) will never go away and will never give up.

"The last time I thought the Dundons were gone out of our lives an order was sent from prison to murder Roy and destroy us a family.

"It is the toughest decision that we have ever had to make. But once we made that decision we took up the offer of being relocated by the authorities."

His wife, Carmel said she was lived "in constant dread of something happening to my husband or my other children".

Hell

"Anything has to be better than the way we are living now. This has been hell," she said.

To facilitate the move abroad, Limerick's Regeneration Agencies has bought the Steering Wheel pub at Roxboro shopping centre and are now the legal owners of the pub.

It is understood that the pub and adjacent casino - where Roy Collins was shot dead in 2009 - was purchased from the family for just over €500,000.

Mr Collins closed the pub doors last Monday and all remaining stock was sold off last week.

Chief executive of Limerick's Regeneration Agencies, Brendan Kenny, said it was hoped that the pub and casino will be developed into a community facility.

"We have a few things in mind already that we are looking at, but we will have to wait and see. Whatever is planned, it will benefit the local community," Mr Kenny said.

"We feel this will be a good property for the communities moving forward."

Arson

"It is located right between two regeneration areas," he added.

The licence for the pub will be sold off by the Collins family and has not been bought by the Regeneration Agencies.

The State is also set to purchase Brannigan's pub on Mulgrave Street in the city. It is believed that this sale has not yet been completed.

The pub was destroyed in an arson attack in 2005 while Wayne Dundon awaited trial for threatening to kill Lee.

The suspect who is expected to be charged in relation to the savage murder of Roy Collins is a senior member of the McCarthy/ Dundon gang who gardai believe acted as a getaway driver for the murder and also had the same role in the murder of another innocent Limerick man - Shane Geoghegan.

He is serving a jail sentence for a cash extortion attempt and has been heavily involved in the internal dispute which has led to the implosion of the McCarthy/Dundon gang.

The suspect was arrested by gardai in prison last November where he was quizzed about three gangland hits.

Also arrested on that occasion were Wayne, John and Ger Dundon and officers are steadily building major cases against all four criminals.

hnews@herald.ie

hatrickpatrick

Could they not class these gangs as illegal organizations, and make membership a crime in and of itself just like with the IRA?

Duggys Housemate

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Could they not class these gangs as illegal organizations, and make membership a crime in and of itself just like with the IRA?

Good point, and a special criminal court to boot.

Itsdacraic

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Could they not class these gangs as illegal organizations, and make membership a crime in and of itself just like with the IRA?

You mean something along the lines of the anti-gang legistlation that was introduced last year that makes it an offence to be a founder or member of a criminal organisation?

hatrickpatrick

Itsdacraic wrote: »

You mean something along the lines of the anti-gang legistlation that was introduced last year that makes it an offence to be a founder or member of a criminal organisation?

Ok, so if it already exists why are people not being hassled for merely being members of these gangs, even if no other crime can be proven?
Would I be correct in saying that there are people who are openly members of these gangs, and the only difficulty has been proving specific crimes?

Duggys Housemate

Itsdacraic wrote: »

You mean something along the lines of the anti-gang legistlation that was introduced last year that makes it an offence to be a founder or member of a criminal organisation?

should use that, then.

starch4ser

i thought you meant the boxer. i was like yes, hate that cuunt

Sunnyisland

Hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Ok, so if it already exists why are people not being hassled for merely being members of these gangs, even if no other crime can be proven?
Would I be correct in saying that there are people who are openly members of these gangs, and the only difficulty has been proving specific crimes?

It has only been used once so far successfully,It costs lot of money,manpower and resources to get the evidence for a conviction,


TWO GALWAY men have pleaded guilty to membership of a criminal organisation, marking what is believed to be the the first conviction of its kind under new anti-gang legislation.
The men were originally charged with establishing a criminal organisation but entered a guilty plea to the lesser charge of membership yesterday.................
http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCcQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnewspaper%2Fireland%2F2012%2F0217%2F1224311919234.html&ei=TLhxT46pK8KxhAfkwrXSAQ&usg=AFQjCNF6mDsVGjBYqsBSbzz43vhBffEnBQ&sig2=PWu1rtq6hjyUYRncv9E84A

hatrickpatrick

realies wrote: »

It has only been used once so far successfully,It costs lot of money,manpower and resources to get the evidence for a conviction,


TWO GALWAY men have pleaded guilty to membership of a criminal organisation, marking what is believed to be the the first conviction of its kind under new anti-gang legislation.
The men were originally charged with establishing a criminal organisation but entered a guilty plea to the lesser charge of membership yesterday.................
http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCcQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnewspaper%2Fireland%2F2012%2F0217%2F1224311919234.html&ei=TLhxT46pK8KxhAfkwrXSAQ&usg=AFQjCNF6mDsVGjBYqsBSbzz43vhBffEnBQ&sig2=PWu1rtq6hjyUYRncv9E84A

Surely it's be cheaper than policing an ongoing, chronic situation drawn out over an indefinite number of years though? Wonder how much has been wasted trying to keep these scumbags under control over the last decade...

Rowley Birkin QC

Why is this in the news?!

Surely the smartest thing would have been to slip them out and away without drawing attention to the fact.

The news report above says that they flew out of Shannon yesterday on an Aer Lingus flight, incredible amount of detail for someone that's under 24 hour Garda protection.

ejmaztec

NinjaK wrote: »

Those animals should be arrested without trial.

Slippin Jimmy

Rowley Birkin QC wrote: »

Why is this in the news?!

Surely the smartest thing would have been to slip them out and away without drawing attention to the fact.

The news report above says that they flew out of Shannon yesterday on an Aer Lingus flight, incredible amount of detail for someone that's under 24 hour Garda protection.

In fairness they could have gone anywhere from shannon. But I do take your point. It really shouldn't be them leaving the country.