A WOMAN was badly beaten in front of her children and had her car smashed up in a terrifying incident.

The attack, which occurred in broad daylight, has led to fears that a brutal feud will re-ignite.

Sources said elderly shoppers and young children witnessed the woman, in her early 30s, being "battered" on Main Street in Balbriggan by three thugs who then used baseball bats to smash up her Volkswagen.

Gardai were called, but no arrests were made as the thugs had fled before they arrived.

Sources say that associates of the woman now want revenge, and there are fears that the criminals involved in the attack will become murder targets.

A source told the Herald: "There have been a number of extremely violent incidents in the past 10 months as part of this feud which started off over an unpaid drugs debt.

"Gardai got a handle on it and some of the protagonists were charged with serious offences, which meant there had been very few incidents in the past four months. However, the big fear is that this incident will lead to a major escalation."

It is understood the rival faction took advantage of the fact that the woman's husband has been forced to live in west Dublin rather than north Co Dublin as part of bail conditions.

The Balbriggan feud has seen a number of stabbings, assaults, numerous cars being vandalised and attacks on homes.

Many family members of one faction have been forced to flee their homes and have relocated to a north Dublin caravan site .

Last November, armed gardai were forced to patrol outside the St Peter and Paul National School in Balbriggan after a number of violent incident.

These included one in which a van mounted the pavement and almost knocked down children after criminals attacked it.

slain

Terrified pupils were forced to witness two brutal feud-related attacks on consecutive school days as they were being dropped off by their parent.

At the centre of the feud is a dispute over drugs, with a Traveller crime boss who has taken over from slain drug dealer John Paul Joyce exerting pressure on a criminal from Drogheda who owes him a four-figure drugs debt.

The crime boss has linked up with a major gang from Swords and has been trying to take control of the crime scene in north Co Dublin and south Co Louth for the past two years.

kfoy@herald.ie