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Gardaí investigating a serious assault on a man in Limerick City Thursday night have arrested another man in relation to the attack.

The 22 year old victim was taken to the Mid Western Regional Hospital where he remains in a critical condition following the attack at Bank Place shortly after 2.30am.

“In a follow up investigation a 22 year old man was arrested on Limerick ’s Northside this afternoon and is presently detained at Henry Street Garda Station under section 4 of The Criminal Justice Act,” Gardai said Friday afternoon.

Investigating Gardaí say they satisfied that other people were witness to the assault and they are asking them to contact Henry Street on 212400.

A teenager is fighting for his life in hospital following a head-on collision between an alleged stolen car and another car in the city Sunday night.

It’s understood a 17 year old male, who was the driver of the alleged stolen car, failed to stop for a marked Garda patrol on O’Connell Street around 10.50pm and took off at speed.

Gardai gave chase however the fleeing car crashed head-on with another car carrying three people, two women and a man, a short time later at Punches Cross intersection.

Emergency services raced to the scene as ambulances from as far away as Newcastle West responded to the scene. The 17 year old was immediately rushed to the mid western regional hospital where he received life saving treatment for head injuries he sustained.

The occupants of the other car required extrication by Limerick fire service before being removed to hospital. Their injuries are not said to be life threatening.

The scene was sealed off for several hours overnight as Garda collision investigators gathered evidence and examined the area of the crash.

The Garda Ombudsman Commission has been notified of the incident but an investigation has not been launched at this stage.

Gardai at Henry Street say heroin with an estimated street value of €700,000 has been recovered following a raid on an apartment Saturday.

Officers say smaller quantities of cocaine, cannabis herb and ecstasy tablets were also seized, along with a number of firearms following the operation at an apartment on the Ennis Road Saturday afternoon.

Two semi automatic pistols and ammunition were recovered and investigators say a man in his fourties was arrested at the scene.

He is being held at Henry Street Garda Station under Section 30 of the Offences against the state act.

The Garda operation is said to be on-going.

This and that from here and there.

Further murder arrest
:: A woman in her late thirties was arrested Tuesday in Limerick city as part of the ongoing investigation into the murder of Jeffery Hannon.

19 year old Hannon, who was from O’Malley Park died after sustaining serious head injuries in a brutal attack. He was last seen alive on the night of the 21st of November 2007 as he attended a bonfire. He was found dead in the early hours by a passer-by only a hundred yards from his Galtee Drive home.

The latest arrests bring to eighteen the number arrested in relation to the murder.

Limerick Intercultural Week launched
:: Limerick will celebrate its diverse communities with the inaugural Limerick Intercultural Week packed full of fun cultural and sporting events.

Limerick Intercultural Week takes place across the city and county from May 21-29. The week long calendar of events include art exhibitions, puppet shows, movie screenings, children’s activities, drumming workshops, interfaith seminars, music and dance shows.

More details over at www.limerick.ie/integration.

Brothers jailed
:: 35 year old Kieran Collopy and his brother 21 year old Damian Collopy, St Ita’s Street in St. Mary’s Park, were jailed for five years after being convicted over the weekend of threatening to kill a man in a dispute about money.

The Irish Times has all the details.

Boundary decision due
:: Clare Fine Gael Senator Tony Mulcahy has said he expects the Government to make a decision within the next fortnight in relation to a proposal to extend the Limerick City boundary into County Clare.

The boundary change was on of a series of recommendations on reforming local Government structures in Limerick and Clare, published in the report by the Limerick Local Government Committee earlier in 2010.

Video: Private clamping
:: A great documentary style video on Youtube examining the issue of private clamping in Limerick that well is worth watching. View that here.

Video: Rubberbandits
:: ‘The Rubberbandits address the Queen of England’

A series of short films produced by people of Limerick who were mentored by documentary filmmaker Christina Gangos, are being screened all May at the Omniplex in Limerick.

Throughout 2010 Christina Gangos taught and mentored learners from Community Based Adult Education Centres across Limerick in the art of observational documentary. The outcome presents diverse approaches of exploring Limerick through a camera lens.

During the month of May Omniplex Limerick will screen ‘A Limerick Minute’ films before all evening performances in a screen to be confirmed.

“This collection of film-stories is a testament to the potential in each and everyone, to perceive the world through their own eyes and share their ways of seeing and insight through art. Collectively, these films give shape to a very different Limerick, proving that the beauty of the ordinary and the everyday outdoes the limitations of our preconceptions through the simplicity of a patiently observed reality.”

The documentaries are around 1 to 2 minutes long and offer different views of communities in Limerick.

If indeed you would like to see all five shorts together call in to Limerick City Gallery of Art off-site at City Hall or Occupy Space on Thomas Street.

::Check out a review of the shorts by the notgoodformyrage blog.

A major anti-crime operation has taken place in the South Eastern, Southern and Western Regions of the country with Gardai arresting 10 people and seizing a large amount of cash.

Gardai from Limerick, Galway, Tipperary, Clare, Dublin and Waterford took part in the early morning raids which included raids on houses on the south side of Limerick City.

It’s understood a number of the ten arrested were detained in the Limerick area. They range in ages from their twenties to their late thirties.

Those detained are being held at Henry Street and Roxboro Garda stations in the city, as well as at Bruff, Shannon, Mallow, Nenagh, Clonmel and Dungarven Garda stations under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act.

A Garda operation was also carried out at the Clonlong halting site late on Sunday night.

Local Gardai, backed up by specialist support units including the Emergency Response Unit, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Regional Armed Support Unit, took part in these operations.

A number of fire service units from Limerick city and county were remaining at the scene of a fire overnight Wednesday, which has destroyed a derelict building in Limerick City centre.

Emergency services were alerted to the fire at the former ‘Cathedral Carpets’ Store on Mungret Street around 7pm Wednesday.

A large fire had erupted in the disused building and the area was sealed off while firefighters battled the blaze from outside positions.

Thick black smoke billowed from the fire well into the late evening with fire officials saying they would be at the scene until at least the morning.

The building had suffered severe damage in the blaze as roads around Mungret Street were closed to the public. It’s thought the building was still stocking old carpets.

Fire officers at the scene said it would be some time before they could gain access to the building to establish the cause of the fire.

Nobody was believed to have been injured, although there were some evacuations at neighbouring apartments.

Fire units from Clare and Tipperary also attended the scene.

Irwin Brother’s Jewellers on Patrick Street is to close with the loss of five jobs, according to a report Thursday.

The third generation run business, established in 1897, has entered into voluntary liquidation and a creditors meeting has been called.

It is just one in a string of family run businesses to shut shop in the city.

The creditors meeting will take place at the Best Western Pery Hotel on the 4th of May.