This article is from page 1 of the 2013-12-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
Onlookers in Kilrush were staggered early on Tuesday morning when local gardaí assisted by Criminal Assets Bureau, Regional Support Unit, and Special Detective Units from Galway, the National Criminal Intelligence Unit as well as officials from Revenue, Social Welfare and Clare County Council staged a series of raids on properties in Kilrush. A number of premises were searchged and a total of eleven people were arrested following the searches. Those arrested were later released without charge and a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions. The garda operation had commenced at 7am on the Tuesday, traditionally Children’s Allowance Day in Kilrush.
According to locals in Kilrush, gardaí will find it very difficult to convince people to testify in any cases brought before the courts as a result of this operation.
“There is no doubt about it,” said The Clare People source in Kilrush, “but they won’t get anyone in Kilrush to testify against these people. Even the people who were beaten up and the person who got his hand broken by moneylenders won’t testify. It just won’t happen.”
The investigation, which has been ongoing for several months, centres around complaints received from various individuals and is focused on those suspected of being engaged in unlicensed money lending.