Gardaí investigating the shooting of a 31-year-old man and his six-year-old son in Co Longford on Wednesday evening have identified at least one suspect.
Patrick McGinley and his son were injured when two shots were fired through the front window of their home at Ballynagoshel, near Edgeworthstown, as they ate an evening meal with three other members of their family.
It is understood that two men approached the house by car at 7.10pm and fired two shots from a shotgun through the large front window. Mr McGinley was hit in the leg at least once, while his son - who was next to him - suffered pellet grazings.
A sensor light system that was installed in the front garden may have activated and alerted the family a few seconds before the shots were fired.
Mr McGinley was brought to Roscommon County Hospital, and his son was transferred to Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe. Both were expected to be discharged last night, and will be interviewed by gardaí today.
The bungalow, some three kilometres from Edgeworthstown on the main road from Dublin to Longford, was sealed off yesterday as Garda forensic specialists studied the scene.
The incident is believed to be linked to a feud between Traveller families in the midlands, and The Irish Times understands that officers are following a definite line of inquiry.
Supt John Scanlon, who is leading the investigation, said the attack could have had more serious consequences and asked anyone who was passing through Ballynagoshel about the time of the shooting to contact gardaí.
"Longford is now in the commuter belt for Dublin, and people who finished work at 5.30pm or 6pm in Dublin may have been passing by the house at about 7pm when the attack took place. Others may have been travelling from Dublin to Sligo, or from Sligo to Dublin, and may have noticed something suspicious," he said.
He also appealed for those with influence over those responsible to exert it responsibly. "The gardaí would ask that anyone who has any influence over people who may be involved in this type of incident should prevail upon these people to stop," Supt Scanlon said.
He declined to comment on a possible link between the shooting and the feud, saying that gardaí "are keeping an open mind and are pursuing a number of lines of inquiry".
A number of violent attacks in the midlands over the past two years are thought to be linked to the feud. In one incident outside Longford town a year ago, shots were fired at a car in which some people were travelling to a wedding.
The windows of the McGinleys' house were smashed during a previous attack, and it is also thought that a shooting at a graveyard in Co Louth before Christmas was connected to the feud.
Billy Forbes, a neighbour of the McGinleys, said the family had moved into the house in the past two years but were not well known in the area.
"People hardly even know them, but I know [Patrick McGinley's] father well; the father is a nice type of a man - I used to lend him the tractor.
"It's gone wild, this shooting. They should call a truce. I've seen the house broken up there before. But they don't give any trouble to anyone. People don't pass remarks."
The Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, Dr Colm O'Reilly, said he was shocked by the attack and offered to mediate between feuding families.
"I want them to solve this within the law," he said. "I would certainly be happy to talk to them. I have a knowledge of the families going back a long time."
The bishop said he understood that some people would be reluctant to come forward to gardaí and urged those in the Travelling community who can appreciate the futility of the retaliatory attacks to use their influence to halt them.
"If they don't see reason, there is an apparent inevitability about sliding down that awful black hole," he said.