A Co Clare man was last night under armed guard in a Limerick hospital as gardaí investigated the possibility of a link between his shooting and the ongoing gang feud in Limerick city.
Just after 11 p.m. on Thursday a well-known Kilrush businessman, Mr Anthony Kelly (46), was shot four times by a gunman at his home in the west Clare town.
Mr Kelly, the father of a grown-up family, was alone, but managed to raise the alarm himself by making an emergency call after sustaining gunshot wounds to the chest, arm and back.
According to Supt John Kerin, the armed guard was placed around Mr Kelly at Limerick's Midwest Regional Hospital "in case ... the shooting is linked to the ongoing feud in Limerick and we cannot take any risks at this time".
Supt Kerin said that the possible link between the shooting of Mr Kelly and the feud in Limerick is one of a number of lines of inquiry gardaí are pursuing. He stressed: "It is at a very early stage in the investigation and nothing is ruled out at this time." Mr Kelly is a native of Kilrush and well-known to gardaí, while he has also been targeted by the Criminal Assets Bureau.
Supt Kerin said yesterday: "Whoever shot Mr Kelly was intending to kill him, so we are treating it as attempted murder." Gardaí confirmed there were seven to eight shots fired at Mr Kelly, who had his back to the gunman at the time.
According to gardaí, Mr Kelly was shot with an automatic handgun through the back window of his home at Crag House while having a cup of tea in his kitchen.
It is believed that the gunman made his way to the rear of the Kelly home from adjoining fields. Crag House is only 200 metres from the local Garda station, overlooking it from a height.
Supt Kerin said Mr Kelly was able to tell gardaí, before being taken away by ambulance, that he did not see or hear anyone prior to being shot. In a bid to catch the shooter, gardaí mounted armed checkpoints around Clare, while yesterday they were carrying out house-to-house searches and extensive searches of the area.
Mr Kelly was removed to Ennis General Hospital before being transferred to the Midwestern Hospital in Limerick where a hospital spokeswoman, last night described Mr Kelly's condition as "stable".
According to Supt Kerin, the scene was yesterday being examined by members of the Garda forensic team, who recovered empty gun shells from the property.
Yesterday, the mood in Kilrush was tense as a TV crew and journalist covering the shooting were threatened by a group of men.
A spokesman at Kilrush Garda station confirmed that the threat was reported to gardaí.
Mr Kelly operates a warehouse business in Kilrush selling furniture and hardware. He is also a former club captain of Kilrush rugby club.
One local, who preferred not to be named, said yesterday that the community in Kilrush was stunned and shocked at the shooting.
She described Mr Kelly "as a very private man, very anonymous. You would never see him out socialising in the pub".
Another local man said: "I cannot remember a handgun being used in Kilrush before and it is a notoriety that Kilrush could do without." The local parish priest, Father Michael Sheedy, said: "There is a fear now that this will lead to more shootings in Kilrush. That is the big worry, where will it end?"
Father Sheedy said Mr Kelly was a man "who wouldn't be involved in the community".
