Three people have been arrested following the search of a house in Dublin during which a garda and another man were shot and injured.
Both men suffered gunshot wounds during an operation in north Dublin early this morning targeting organised crime.
The exchange of gun fire took place at the same house where a man was shot and wounded just last month.
Two women and a man, aged in their 30s and 40s, were arrested and are being questioned at Ballymun, Clontarf and Swords Garda stations under section 30 of Offences Against the State Act.
In a pre-planned raid involving uniform gardaí and members of armed units including the Emergency Response Unit, gardaí tried to force entry into a house in Ballymun, north Dublin, at dawn.
However, as the operation began shots were discharged, which gardaí believe came from inside the house as they were trying to break down a reinforced door.
One of the Garda team was shot and wounded in the arm. The injuries are described as not life threatening.
The door to the property was broken down and the Garda team gained access, with further shots fired inside the house.
During that phase of the operation a man in the property on Barnewell Drive was wounded. However, his injuries are also non-life threatening.
Both of the wounded were treated by Dublin Fire Brigade paramedics who were dispatched to the scene.
Emergency treatment
The wounded were given emergency treatment at the scene to stabilise their conditions and then taken by ambulance to hospital for further treatment.
Garda sources said the information available at this point suggested both will make a full recovery.
A firearm was founded at the scene and has been taken for analysis. It is believed to be the gun that was used in the wounding of the injured garda.
The property where the incident occurred is one of a large number of modern new local authority dwellings built in recent years as part of the rejuvenation of Ballymun.
The scene has been sealed off and was undergoing a forensic examination by members of the Garda Technical Bureau.
Because Garda firearms were discharged and two people wounded, the incident has been referred to the Garda Ombudsman Commission for investigation.
It investigates complaints against gardaí but it also carries out inquiries into any incident where a Garda gun has been fired or a member of the public injured at or around the time they have been in contact with gardaí.
Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan said Thursday's shooting highlighted "the danger that can face members of An Garda Síochána in carrying out their duties".
“The work of uniformed Gardaí and the special units is critical in keeping people safe and tackling serious criminals whose activities can destroy communities,” said Mr Flanagan. “I acknowledge the good work of An Garda Síochána and assure the force of my continued support for its efforts.”
Deputy Commissioner John Twomey joined the minister in offering his best wishes to the garda shot in the line of duty.
Thursday morning’s operation formed one part of a wider investigation into feuding criminals in the Ballymun area.
Rival factions involved in the drugs trade have been feuding for a prolonged period, though the violence has erupted several times over the last 12 months.
Just last month a young man was shot and wounded when shots were fired into the house where this morning’s incident unfolded.
Shots fired
In the early hours of Saturday, November 19th, the teenager was wounded in the abdomen when shots were fired into the house from the street.
Gardaí believe that shooting was linked to the ongoing feud between the rival factions and this morning’s operation was part of the ongoing investigation into that dispute.
Gardaí have enjoyed success against those involved and in September they seized a large amount of cash and a firearm in one operation.
A pistol and small quantity of cocaine was found along with €400,000 in cash.
The money had been counted and divided into blocks of varying values in notes of €100, €50, €20 and €10.
The feud that gardaí are investigating is separate to another dispute, involving criminals from Ballymun, which resulted in the deaths of two people during the summer.
Mother-of-six Antoinette Corbally-Devoy (48) and Clinton Shannon (30) died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head and body in a machine gun attack in Ballymun.
However, gardaí believe the killers intended to kill the dead woman’s brother, Derek ‘Bottler’ Devoy (37). He was at the scene, outside a house on Balbutcher Drive owned by the family, but fled to safety on foot.
As Devoy escaped uninjured his sister, who opened the door of the house to him, was shot dead.
Mr Shannon, who was sitting in a car that his friend Devoy had just got out of, was also killed.
Two other people, a friend of Ms Corbally-Devoy, Brian Moran (52), and the dead woman's niece Andrea Devoy (18) were injured.
Mr Moran was shot in the leg, while Ms Devoy suffered grazes to her head.
