Full scale gang fight near the Parkway

Mr. CooL ICE

Okay, this was one of the craziest things ive seen in my life, and i saw it yesterday, approx 5:00pm...

I was driving up to The Parkway (from the castletroy direction) with 2 friends of mine in the car. traffic was relatively heavy, and when i was 200 yards away from the parkway, i saw a red Toyota Avensis, in my lane, a good bit ahead of me, reversing at full speed. It managed to turn 90 degrees in the right-hand lane, and i just passed it. Then i saw a group of 5 or 6 'gangsters' (they were scobes) chasing after it in the middle of the road, throwing rocks at it. Then it drove the wrong way back along the road, and i joined the traffic queue at the roundabout.

I looked behind to try and see something, and the Avensis had turned again, and had driven up onto the path and tried to knock down some of the 'gangsters' who were on the path, but missed them. It then drove further up the path and joined the traffic, before driving up onto the small island dividing the lane turning left and the roundabout traffic, and some pedestrians had to avoid it. By now, its tyres were punctured.

We were stunned, and drove into the parkway and parked. One of my friends had a camera and ran down to near the road to see if he could see anything, but according to him, they had gotten out of the car, and there was a load of scumbags kicking the crap out of each other.

Anybody else see this? Ive been living in limerick since 2002, and this is the first time ive actually witnessed any violence.

Dave

I've been living in Limerick for the last 21 years pretty much and the only time I saw violence in person was about 3 months ago while driving through Thomondgate at about 4 o clock on a Sunday afternoon. Some guy had dragged another guy out onto the middle of the road and while holding his face against the ground, ounched him repeatedly for about 5 minutes, traffic was well blocked up so I saw all of it. Blood was literally flying everywhere, his face and swelled up to something unbelieveable and about 10 people were just standing around looking at it. I called the cops but they were already on their way. Scary stuff.

Mr. CooL ICE

Jesus, would anyone not try and pull the guy off him? It didnt matter how much of a lunatic he was, i couldnt stand there see someone take so much punishment.

limerick_man

OMG, I didnt see anything about it!!!

What age were the 'gansters'??? Is this thier idea of being low profile?

Ok, this is kinda weird... living in Raheen and just saw a Garda van pull out of an estate, about 2 mins later saw a garda car with 3 guys in the back (could be gards) of the same estate!

I'm guessing crime is on the rise over the week ... I wonder has it anything to do with Dolores moving back to Limerick?

moshpit77

limerick_man wrote:

I wonder has it anything to do with Dolores moving back to Limerick?

Of course it is, she's invested all of her money in weapons, don't you read the tabloids?!

Redneck_Rebel

Well I'v Been in limerick with two years in that time a fella living with me got beaten up and robbed, my car roof got jumped on, my car got backed into and they drove off while it was parked, I meet a fella who got beaten with a rock over the head, a friend of mine got kicked out of a night club for getting head butted, and another friend ended up fighting two scobes that tried to mug him. Call me a culchie, I don't care, you wouldn't be attacked for no reason at home.

cornbb

I've seen a gang of guys kicking the **** out of each other outside a pub and a couple of friends got mugged on Clare street a few years ago but thats about it.

Redneck_Rebel

Limerick: City of sport!
Limerick: City of fine food
Limerick: City of skyscrapers

I dono, When I go out in Limerick city it isn't a nice experience. The people aren't very friendly. Go almost any where else in the country and if you start talking to some one on the street they will (as long as your nice) be polite. Not in limerick. Ah well I have to put up with it for another year and fcuk this I'm leaving!!!!!!!!!!!

Drico

Redneck_Rebel wrote:

Limerick: City of sport!
Limerick: City of fine food
Limerick: City of skyscrapers

I dono, When I go out in Limerick city it isn't a nice experience. The people aren't very friendly. Go almost any where else in the country and if you start talking to some one on the street they will (as long as your nice) be polite. Not in limerick. Ah well I have to put up with it for another year and fcuk this I'm leaving!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sorry, but that's just not true. My experience of Limerick is the very opposite. It's all too easy and fashionable to knock Limerick, a place where a sizeable proportion of the population at any one time is not actually from the city itself. You make it sound like the people of Limerick are genetically unfriendly - a ludicrous notion at the best of times. If you find the "people" in Limerick unfriendly, it might be best not to assume that they are all natives of the city - they may not be. Personally, I find you - a Limerick dweller - to be quite rude and classless in your comments about the city. But you're not from Limerick, are you? Sweeping generalisations rarely tell the full story.

Drico.

Amazotheamazing

I was under the impression that Limerick is getting safer, though obviously there's still a lot to be done. I've always found Limerick people to be friendly, but there are dickheads everywhere. I've lived in a few cities, Limerick compares pretty well to most of them.
Are you from Cork city, or from a smaller town?

Blush_01

Never having gone out in Limerick, and rarely having been there too late at night I don't know what it's like in the wee hours, but I'd prefer Limerick to Clonmel any night of the week. I've heard worse stories about Clonmel on a weeknight than Limerick at the weekend. I think it's disgraceful how poorly Limerick is portrayed in the media - almost like Limerick is the scapegoat of the republic. It's bias and stupidity.

As for the Parkway - one evening at around 7 in the evening we were coming out of Dunnes and my sister started whinging for a milkshake, so I headed into Burger King. Three little pre-pubescent scobes were hanging around the doorway, waiting for a fourth, and when he came out, one of them handed him a gun. I nearly died! I keep telling myself it was just a very convincing water gun... but hey!

bazz26

Redneck_Rebel wrote:

Limerick: City of sport!
Limerick: City of fine food
Limerick: City of skyscrapers

I dono, When I go out in Limerick city it isn't a nice experience. The people aren't very friendly. Go almost any where else in the country and if you start talking to some one on the street they will (as long as your nice) be polite. Not in limerick. Ah well I have to put up with it for another year and fcuk this I'm leaving!!!!!!!!!!!

Was down in Cork recently and seen a couple of boyracers screech their brakes, pull up into a car park, get out and start knocking the crap out of each other, their little girlfriends pointing and shouting at each other. This was in broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon. Do I think all Cork people are like this, not at all, this was just mindless thuggery by a few immature idots, not a Cork or Limerick thing. I would not paint everyone with the same brush and it would not discourage me from going to Cork ever again. Limerick cannot be so bad after all since you are up here educating yourself or earning a living.

strettie

Based on Lord Chessingtons experience can Grand Theft Auto: Limerick be far from release

ricey

Aint been a murder in over 12months thats something to be happy about.

ricey

Lots and lots or raids going on in the city 2d something must be up.

Redneck_Rebel

I might have high expectaitions of a city, but not having a murder in 12 months, that should be a given. I have meet people from Limerick that are some of the nicest people I have meet, but I'm on about the occations that somthing happenes it always seems to be major and personaly I don't want to see or be involved this sort of sh1t. Now I agree that Limerick city is a nice place but to live here is in my experience, (I lived in elem park and now in Raheen) it is a rough place. I'v listed the kind of stuff that has happened to close friends.

Dirty little scum bags shouldn't be the measure of a place but when this is what I see all the time it has to be the measure it the place

IceHawk

ricey wrote:

Lots and lots or raids going on in the city 2d something must be up.

Where are you getting your info?

Redneck_Rebel wrote:

Dirty little scum bags shouldn't be the measure of a place but when this is what I see all the time it has to be the measure it the place

Yeah, but you haven't had a lot of experience of the city itself. Most people in Limerick will be very friendly if you give them a chance. In any city of a reasonable size there's going to be scumbags, and everyone agrees the bouncers in Limerick are worse than average.
Anyone who tells stories about stuff that happened to their friends can paint a convincing picture of a city. Your own personal experience of Limerick is basically just the two things that happened to your car.

Even you have to admit that Limerick is improving, surely?

Mr. CooL ICE

strettie wrote:

Based on Lord Chessingtons experience can Grand Theft Auto: Limerick be far from release

That was exactly what sprung to mind on the day, although youd be chased by cops without guns.

The guys in the car looked about 19/20 and the guys chasing them looked to be 15 or so.

Redneck_Rebel

IceHawk wrote:

and everyone agrees the bouncers in Limerick are worse than average.
Anyone who tells stories about stuff that happened to their friends can paint a convincing picture of a city. Your own personal experience of Limerick is basically just the two things that happened to your car.

Even you have to admit that Limerick is improving, surely?

Well if you want to say Limerick is improving it has to, there is 115 million coming into it.
Sorry that s bull.

If you are getting on to going out how many places in the world can you be refused coz the bouncer doesn't like you, you mightent be "cool" enough or the way you dress. In all fairness we aren't talking about massive clubs with A-list celebs. Mollies, "sorry not tonight, BUD". That night myself and an other fella had one pint in PJ's ,that was dead so we went down to Mollies and thats what we got.
So coming back to the city, I have been asked for my phone more than once by small little trainee scobes. What are these people that are roaming Limerick going to be doing in a couple of years. But I will accept that it is a minority that is causing all this bother but in terms of percentage of the population in the city good verus bad, it seems to compare badlly with other cities. That is my observations of the city after 2 years here.

Haket

I've been 7 years in limerick, and used to go out a fair bit, frequently walking home. I've never seen a fight . . . not once. . . . well you get the odd lady screaming at her fella but thats street theatre.

Sure there are plenty of scobes around but thats endemic to the country as a whole, crime is considerably lower (in my experience and that of my friends/workmates) in terms of burglary / theft when compared to other cities I've lived in (Waterford, Dublin). I know of two cars stolen, and 3 break-ins. Most of which had mitigating circumstances, (bad part of town / open doors etc).

So, its got a bad rep, I really dont care. It works for me and I feel safe and secure here.

MARK

Redneck_Rebel

Well in Balycumin in Raheen, outside our house 3 cars have been stolen and untold damage done to the ones that they couldn't take. Now I don't mind if scobes wander around intemidating people but when decent hard working people buy a car at great expence and personal scrafice, fcuking knackers or what ever you want to call them come and destroy or steal it with frigtening regularity it realy bothers me.
And what in christ name is "just the two things that happened to your car." suposed to mean. If you spent the amount of time I did working for a car then insure it and tax it you ll understand the sick feeling you get when you come down heading out for work and some useless bollox has jumped on it. Its such a regular occurence when I reported it to the guards, "and you want us to do about it?"
Now I'v spent a lot of time in cities around Ireland and never had anything like this happen. I know it does happen elsewhere but the regularity is pissing me off.

LB6

RNR

Just had a look at your profile. NICE!!!!!!!!!! not.

You talk about a minority of limerick people.
Your temper absolutely shines through on your profile. Wouldn't want to cross you anytime!

Maybe you should look for a job or study (try buying a dictionary too) back in Cork and maybe you might have more luck with your car!

Pity you had such bad luck, sorry it happened to you.

Redneck_Rebel

I never said I didn't have a temper, did you ever hear where there is smoke there is fire. There isn't some big Conspiracy against Limerick that the rest of the country is in on. There are a lot of people in and out side of limerick complaining about the amount of crime and scobes here. You can't just say that they are all wrong.

IceHawk

Actually, they are all wrong.
Limerick has less crime than other cities in Ireland. The problem with Limerick is that all the crime is in very specific areas. In some areas you won't ever get fights, and in other areas there will be fights every night. In Ballycummin we're in between. We occasionally get scumbags hanging around, but they're generally harmless enough. It's up to people to take reasonable precautions based on their area.

In a perfect world no precautions would be necessary, but realistically, bigger population means more diversity and there's nothing anybody can do if they end up in an area that's attracting an undesirable element except move or get a steering wheel lock.

ricey

Jesus im sick of all this $hit talk will ye people ever just drop all this crap
about limerick and crime every city has crime and always will have limerick
is a $HITHOLE sometimes so what who cares its been said over and over
again is what pisses me off, FORGET ABOUT IT!

Drico

Redneck_Rebel wrote:

There are a lot of people in and out side of limerick complaining about the amount of crime and scobes here. You can't just say that they are all wrong.

There's a lot of people in and outside of Kerry telling jokes about the stupidity of Kerrymen. You just can't say they are all wrong.

Drico.

dSTAR

Here is my experience of Limerick.

I have only been there once.

It was about the time of the Gulf War in 1991. I went to protest at the landing of American planes in Shannon airport. The protest went according to plan. We decided to stop off for a beer on the way back home. We went to some 'unassuming' pub and were pretty much intimidated out of the place.

So we decided we would head back to Dublin and have a 'friendly pint' in a familiar pub. On our way back we passed through some surburban area and a German girl decided she needed to visit the 'little ladies room'. No sooner had she stepped off the coach than some mugger pounced on her from behind snatched her bag leaving her face down in the gutter.

Myself and a few other lads decided we would give chase to her assailant. We followed him down some laneway and heard him whistle out. Before we knew it a gang of hoods appeared out of nowhere and gave chase.

We fled back to the coach and went to the local police station. The cop in the station was disinterested in the German girl's predicament. She lost her passport and a large sum of cash but all the smilling cop could say was "Ahhh well.."

I know this was a long time ago but I will NEVER EVER return to Limerick.

limerick_man

WOW, I've never had any problem... dear god you must be mr unfortuate!! Unless the bus had a banner saying stop landings or something!
For some reason people dont like people from other cities coming to ours and trying to get rid of our jobs, and our prosperity! Hmmm... go figure!

billy the squid

limerick_man, the next post like that on this forum will be your last. do NOT insult other users like that.

Dave

Yeah nice one Dstar, lets play tar everyone with the bursh. :rolleyes:
also limerick_man what the hell are you talking about?

billy the squid

Just to add "outsiders coming to take our jobs (and/or our wimin) is no excuse to rob someone.

limerick_man

Thats not what i was saying! I was saying ppl in the rest of Ireland dont want the stop overs, but it employs people in the vacinity (aka Limerick), also the airport is doing well which boosts the local economy! These protestors coming in are trying to stop the landings which will mean the area loses money and jobs... its all in the Limerick Leader!
Thanks for letting me know that isnt enough of an excuse to rob someone, the guy was kicked out of a pub... and then robbed! Come on, thats like something from a sitcom... the likeihood of it all happening withoutsomething 4 ppl to get angry about!!!
Twice I tried to post to stop people grouping up on Redneck Rebel!

billy the squid

the man has a constitutional right to protest what he and his friends believe is Ireland's involvment in another country's war. If people cannot show respect for his right to protest, then you cannot blame him for feeling unwelcome in the city.

This was back in 1991. it is evident that this protest did not affect Liemrick's prosperity or employment.

being against a war that local people are making money off of is no reason to rob someone.

being against a war that local people are making money off of is no reason to throw someone out of a public house, You throw someone out of a public house if they are causing an arguement or not paying for their drink.

The people that this person encountered should have been more understanding of his right to protest. it wasnt too long before the Gulf war that they were protesting themselves against water charges in the city.

The Lopper

just in relation to what limerick man is saying about stopovers, (the current ones), there is some phenomenal number of troops passing through Shannon, i can't remember the exact figure, but it was impressive, all i've to say is this: Doesn't that kinda make Shannon a target?

billy the squid

indeed, our jobs and prosperity would be at risk if some mad islamic fundamentalist was to blow himself up on O'Connell Street or in Colbert Station.

limerick_man

Ok, Something has gone wrong here!!! I'm not an avocate for thugs or whatever!!

I was saying that would probably the reason! Not that if i saw him i would go to great lenghts to rob him???

Limerick wont become a target, the US's main stopover is in Germany... Shannon is an extra place! Ireland has gotten no warnings (like everywhere else tht was bombed)!

Also even if Irish government pulled the scheme, Germany could still handle the passengers, or reroute them to UK!

There are many Irish-US schemes in place which on thw whole only benifit Ireland, this is one that ... at this time if we did pull or help, would be hugley negitive on everything else this country has!!!

Biggest problem would be a mass riot, thats very unlikely since people have calmed about the issue... as americans try and stop it!

OK to conclude, dont agree with thugary or that Shannon will be bombed!

moshpit77

Does this photo look familiar? It will to anybody that's been through Shannon departure lounge in the past couple of years...



158,549 US soldiers and marines passed through Shannon last year alone. And obviously you don't pay any attention to the newspapers, because it was front page headlines last week that one of Osama Bin Laden's right hand men said Shannon was a legitimate target for helping the US.

A lot of people choose to ignore all of this, but it'll be hard to ignore the headlines when the place gets hit

(figures and photo from Alive in Limerick blog)

billy the squid

this thread is starting to drift off topic. so lets bring it back in. if anyone wants to discuss the shannon stopover then feel free to start a thread.

The point I would like to make to Limerick Man is that these thugs robbed yer man's German friend because they wanted her handbag, I doubt that they gave a flying **** about the political implications of Desert Storm, and our involvement in it.

Being a member of a protest group is no excuse for being ejected from a public house either. being kicked out of a bar for that reason is just as bad as being kicked out for being a member of a minority group as far as I am concerned. and "people coming to take our jobs away from us" has been used as an excuse to treat minorities groups badly also.

There is NO justification for what happened to this guy. While there MIGHT have been political reasoning behind the bar incident, I doubt very much that there was behind the robbery.

invincibleirish

billy the squid wrote:

indeed, our jobs and prosperity would be at risk if some mad islamic fundamentalist was to blow himself up on O'Connell Street or in Colbert Station.

he, if a bomb went off in con colbert station went off i dont think anyone could tell the difference

but seriously a quick glance in todays sunday tribune should give a clear insight into how dangerous limerick city is.(hint very dangerous)

Drico

The Lopper wrote:

just in relation to what limerick man is saying about stopovers, (the current ones), there is some phenomenal number of troops passing through Shannon, i can't remember the exact figure, but it was impressive, all i've to say is this: Doesn't that kinda make Shannon a target?

Of course not! We're so dangerous nobody in their right minds would dare take us on. I mean, everyone believes the Sunday Tribune, don't they?

Drico. :rolleyes:

The Lopper

^
Damn straight, i take Ross O' Carroll Kelly as gospel, roysh?

Seriously though what had the Tribune this time?

I can't remember what i was reading it in, but Ryan Tubridy had a little piece in some paper, basically commentating on how nice Limerick was, and that it was nothing like the reputation it had.

But what was the headline? "Nice People of Satb City Strike Back". I think i feel my blood rising again :mad:

Amazotheamazing

invincibleirish wrote:

he, if a bomb went off in con colbert station went off i dont think anyone could tell the difference

but seriously a quick glance in todays sunday tribune should give a clear insight into how dangerous limerick city is.(hint very dangerous)

Firstly Bus and Train stations are **** everywhere outside Dublin, certainly Cork and Galway's are holes. Yeah Colbert Station is a dive, it's more to do with CIE than anything endemic to Limerick.

Invinceable, why do you think people still live in Limerick if it's such a terrible place? Anyone I know who is from Limerick nevers gets in trouble or gets trouble, same as any one I know from anywhere else gets in trouble (ie serious trouble). The fact is the level of random violence in Limerick is surprisingly low, 90%+ of trouble is localised, that is to say, limited to one family in one area, fighting exclusively with another family in a different area. There are very few "innocent bystanders" who get dragged in. Nearly all the stories about Limerick invaribly mention either a friend of a friend, or are situations that happen in every city in Ireland.
For example a girl in Galway was raped right beside the main Garda station, should we conclude that rapists act in Galway with complete impunity? Of course not, rape happens everywhere. Similary, tonight in Galway I saw 3 water balloons thrown at an asian man, should I conclude that the people of Galway are racists given to randomly soaking people of asiatic origin (ie the extreme view) or that some kids were bored and picked on some random guy, who happened to asian (the rational view)?
No story on this thread seems to be unique to Limerick, and yet since they happen in Limerick they are automatically given the "Limerick city is dangerous" title. Cars get jumped on in Cork, and in Dublin, I'd even say cars get jumped on in Delhi or New York or wherever. Were I to go up Mayfield wearing a "Roy Keane is ****" t-Shirt I'm sure I'd get in trouble, if I went around Rahoon (in Galway) on my own at night I'd find trouble too. Do I take these experiences as the actions of a city, or do I blame a few dickheads whose type live in every city?
I only ask because the vast majority of people in Limerick are as sound as any you'll find in Ireland, and it seems the .5% who cause trouble get all the headlines. I think you'll find as you travel the world that every town has it's highs and lows, unless you can come back to me and show examples of crime that could only happen in Limerick.
Were you to call Limerick dull, I'd be more inclined to agree.

Dave

Nice post Amazo.

Mr. CooL ICE

Hear hear.

limerick_man

Amazotheamazing wrote:

It seems the .05% who cause trouble

Ummm... 0.05%, yeah no! I lived here... its not 0.05%.... its more, hell alot more! At least 2% ... I mean seriously!!!
Its not like theres three guys in Limerick that do all the ilegal stuff, the gangs, robberys, drug trafficing, rascism, etc.

Amazotheamazing

Assuming a population of 70,000 (a compromise between city boundary and city area) 1% would be 700 people and .5% would be 350 people. Seeing as there are 42 (?)people in prision due to the feud, which has quietened considerably since these convictions were made, it would seem that it is unlikely that there is any more 10 times that number just keeping quiet for the minute, so I would guess that .05% is a fair enough (if very rough) figure for people involved.
I do however mean that .05% dominate the headlines, I'm sure, like every other city, there are people who live on the fringes of the law, who depending on circumstance will increase or decrease the actual number of criminals in the city.
I could be completely wrong though, feel free to disagree (especially if you can provide actual figures).

IceHawk

Don't want to be pedantic here, but 0.05% of 70000 is actually 35 people, which would mean that there are 7 innocent people in prison and no crime on Limerick's streets.

Actually I quite enjoyed that. I'll be more pedantic in future.

Anyway, beyond that, Amazo is right, it's only a very small number of Limerick people that cause trouble, and there's been improvement in general over the last year or so.

limerick_man

IceHawk wrote:

but 0.05% of 70000 is actually 35 people, which would mean that there (is) no crime on Limerick's streets.

I think this realisation is a cause for celebrition... the services have done a good job!


Now we can all keep our doors open, let kids run free and leave money on show!!!!
O, it truely is a good day!!!

dSTAR

billy the squid wrote:

The point I would like to make to Limerick Man is that these thugs robbed yer man's German friend because they wanted her handbag, I doubt that they gave a flying **** about the political implications of Desert Storm, and our involvement in it.

There was no way that the hoods would have known that the person was some blow in or protester. It was very dark and it came off as a random attack. It was the speed with which it happened that made a few people think that Limerick must be seriously dangerous. Its amazing how one incident like this can negatively affect a persons perception.

Anyway I have heard that things there are completely different now with lots of new development and an influx of investment. Surely that must be having some impact on the crime levels in the city.

Amazotheamazing

Jesus that's an awful mistake mistake to make, clearly been too long a summer away from the books. I meant .5%. (oh the shame of it all)

Raiser

The majority of my friends have suffered serious assults in Limerick City while just trying to get from A to B.

I have clear recollection of people I know defending Limerick from accusations re. violence etc. - only to suffer an assault - theft etc. themselves and then review their opinion accordingly.

Spent the early hours of Xmas 98 in Limerick regional while a friend had his face stitched subsequent to an assault with a bottle - the reason as yet unknown.

Limerick local newspapers regularily report muggings on Limericks main shopping thoroughfare Cruises street at approx 2-3pm on a Sat. (?)

Limerick has (in my opinion) very few amenities, outlets for anyone, of any age.

A great many people find Limerick to be a grey souless, depressing, dangerous, small-minded, bleak, hole of a place - THAT IS A FACT - Think smoke and fire.

I have spotted only approx. 43 tourists in Limerick since 1992 - It is imaginable that approx. 9% of them have since begun legal proceedings against Bord Failte

Finally:

It is now popular/fashionable to resolutely defend Limerick in the face of WHATEVER

"Yeah he was stabbed, but what the fu(k was he doing waiting for a cab at 2am anyway, like thats only asking for trouble - you get that anywhere like...."

- People should be proud of where they come from but problems HAVE TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED BEFORE THEY CAN BE SOLVED.