Those 100 people have made their presence known though, and there are about 70 feud-related shootings in the city each year. The KeaneCollopy gang live in St Mary's Park, which is known locally as 'The Island', and rarely move out of the area.

The rival group mainly hail from Moyross on the north of the city and the O'Malley Park and Ballinacurra Weston areas of the southside. Most of the senior members of both gangs are in prison after successful garda operations.

But the next generation of gangsters have taken their place. Most of these men are in their late teens or early 20s and are willing to murder each other . . . on sight if necessary.

Although historical hatred between the gangs initially fuelled the dispute, it was escalated by both sides who wanted to control and dominate the lucrative drugs market in Limerick.

The feud began in 1990 when Jack Collopy was assaulted by three men including John Ryan and a member of the McCarthy family. He was badly beaten on the head with a shotgun, became epileptic as a result and never worked again.

The DPP decided not to charge anybody and the Collopys swore revenge and teamed up with their friends, the Keanes. Over the next ten years, attacks were confined to the Dundon and McCarthy families because the Keanes and Ryans were involved in the drugs trade together.

However, they fell out in 2000 with devastating results. In November of that year, Eddie Ryan was shot dead in the Moose Bar by Kieran Keane.

This was in revenge for an incident a week earlier when Eddie Ryan walked up to Christy Keane and fired a handgun at him only for it to jam.

On 29 January 2003 36-year-old Kieran Keane, the head of the Keane family, was abducted along with his nephew Owen Treacy, taken to Drombana and shot in the head.

Treacy was stabbed 17 times but played dead and survived. He eventually gave evidence against five members of the Dundon-McCarthyRyan group which led to all five being jailed for life. Keane had been a marked man since he murdered Ryan.

In July 2003, Eddie Ryan's older brother, John, was shot dead in Thomondgate in retaliation for the Keane killing. The 47-year-old father of six was not involved in the feud.

The McCarthy-Dundon-Ryan faction did not wait long to get even.

Just three months later Michael Campbell McNamara's body was found in a field in Southill. His hands had been tied behind his back and he had been horrifically tortured and stabbed ten times before being shot in the back of the head. The 26-yearold was aligned to the KeaneCollopy outfit. Neither grouping was prepared to let the murder of one of their members go unpunished.

There was a fragile peace in the dispute until November 2005 when 18-year-old Darren Coughlan was chased up the Old Cratloe Road in Limerick city and viciously assaulted by three men. He later died in hospital. The three were members of the Keane-Collopy gang and pleaded guilty to Coughlan's manslaughter.

In May last year, 19-year-old Aidan Kelly was shot in a laneway outside the city after being lured to a meeting with his killers. He was a gun supplier who was involved with both gangs but was murdered by the Keane-Collopys after they were shot at on the day of the killing.

The same gang also killed 21-yearold 'Fat' Frankie Ryan in November 2006. Ryan was sitting in a car near his home in Moyross when he was shot in the head. He was a drug dealer with 11 previous convictions who was suspected of murdering 25-yearold David Nunan in October 2005 over a personal dispute. He was the real target of the incident that saw Aidan Kelly murdered in May 2006.

The eighth and final murder . . . so far . . . occurred last 26 April when a gunman hid in a public phone box in Limerick city and ambushed 34-year-old Noel Campion. Campion was a pillion passenger on his friend's motorbike and was shot in the back as he tried to escape. He was a major drug dealer and belonged to the McCarthyDundon-Ryan gang.

He was killed as part of an attempt by the Keane-Collopys to murder their rival gang into oblivion but gardai anticipate that the Campion and Ryan murders will soon be avenged.

The deep-rooted hatred means this dispute shows no sign of ending.