Armed Garda Units back up uniformed gardai in checking cars on New Street in Longford Town last June.

Armed Garda Units back up uniformed gardai in checking cars on New Street in Longford Town last June.

GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING A long-running feud in Longford are dealing with the latest attack on a home in the area which they believe is linked to the ongoing violence.

Late last week, a petrol bomb was thrown through a house to the south-west of Longford town itself.

The feud has its roots in a disagreement between two families belonging to the Traveller community.

Gardaí believe this latest attack is retaliation after a number of shots were fired at a door in the Annaly Park area of the town last month.

In this incident, a mother and her child were inside and narrowly avoided injury when bullets were fired at a front door.

This incident was seen by officers as an escalation in the level of violence between two feuding families.

Last week’s incident resulted in around ten gardaí, both detective and uniformed officers, rushing to the scene.

It emerged that the petrol bomb thrown through the window of the home failed to fully ignite, so significant damage to the property was avoided.

The remnants of the incendiary device have been removed by forensic experts. They will now be tested.

Gardaí are following a definite line of inquiry in relation this latest incident and believe it is part of the feud between families.

There had been a relative quiet in the feud at the start of the year.

However, gardaí in the area now believe that the latest two incidents mean, as one source put it, “they’re back in business”.

Gardaí had previously been drafted in from other districts in a bid to quell the violence which, when at its worst, resulted in members of the elite Armed Support Unit patrolling the streets.

A garda policing plan is already in place to tackle the feud.