THESE WERE the scenes during a terrifying mob attack by members of a traveller clan armed with knives, metal bars and rocks.

Famous for their flash cars and millionaire traders, this year some Rathkeale travellers brought a vicious feud home for the festive season.
One of the ringleaders had been given bail just days earlier, after being convicted of a high-speed road race on Christmas Day.

The assault came just after the new year had been rung in at Rathkeale, County Limerick, where thousands of Irish travellers returned for the holiday.
Several men stormed the yard of a house and smashed windows, ornaments and security cameras in the onslaught.

Two men are caught on camera brandishing knives, while a bare-chested man tries to kick in the front door of a house.
The assault continued even after gardai had arrived at the scene at Fairgreen, in the middle of a residential area owned almost entirely by traveller families Charged

After a number of gardai were called away to deal with another incident, the officers left at the scene were unable to stop more than a half dozen men who charged into the property, The attackers are visible on the footage armed with shovels and iron bars, which they used to smash windows and hack at the back door.
Throughout the riot, rocks were thrown at the house, damaging cars and smashing roof tiles on the gated-bungalow.

Bridget Ryan, who has lived in Rathkeale for the last 30 years, said the attack came without any warning.

Her husband Roger died in November after a six-year battle with throat cancer and just days before the terrifying incident her sister Nora had also died in Co. Mayo.
The mother of 17 told the Sunday World that the mob assault had left her frightened and unable to sleep.

She admitted, however, that she was previously arrested by gardai investigating a pipe bomb attack on a wealthy traveller trader in the town.
"It had nothing to do with that," she insisted this week.

Demanded

In January 2011, Bridget was charged with extortion, amid allegations that she had demanded €24,000 from Patrick Hegarty and had threatened to blow up his house. Not long afterwards, the charges were dropped and then some months later the alleged victim died of a heart attack in Germany.

Two of those in the video of the mob attack were identified by a number of Sunday World sources this week. Brian Gammell (20) and his father Patrick are clearly visible in the video taking part in the mob attack and had already been convicted of offences over the Christmas holiday.

Gammell junior was given bail after seeking leave to appeal a two-month jail sentence imposed for the Christmas Day drag race.
He had pleaded guilty to dangerous driving after being caught in a race between a Porsche and a BMHlon a country road.Roger Boswell (19), of Setchel Grove, Cambridge, England, also admitted dangerous driving.

Drivers on the N21 had to get out of the way action when the pair raced each other between Newcastle West and Rathkeale.

Gardai had spotted the two cars accelerating at the start of the drag run and followed the cars to Rathkeale as they reached speeds of more than 140kph.
The court was told the two young men have no previous convictions and only return to Ireland once a vear from the UK, where they are working.

Judge Aneas McCarthy said it was a miracle nobody was killed during the incident. Both men were jailed for two months and banned from driving for five years.
Brian's father Patrick was also fined €350 after he pleaded guilty to a charge of using threatening and abusive behaviour to a garda after the race.

Abuvsive

Every Christmas the sudden influx of travellers can lead to tensions. In the worst incident during Easter celebrations in 2001, David 'Tunny' Sheridan was stabbed to death in a confused melee.

His cousin and brother-in-law Paddy 'Crank' Sheridan was sent for trial after being charged with murder, but was acquitted by a jury at the Central Criminal Court three days before Christmas in 2004.

Limerick TD and Fianna Fail justice spokesman Niall Collins has expressed his concerns that further cutbacks could leave officers on the ground without back-up.

"Basically there are huge concerns out there that existing gardai would have adeuate back-up in situations like this.

If the force drops another thousand you'll effectively be reducing the gardai in many parts of the country to a glorified neighbourhood watch scheme," he said.

This year, Gardai mounted an operation aimed at preventing dangerous driving by young travellers in Rathkeale over Christmas. They impounded 30 vehicles, all of which had foreign registration plates, which had to be recovered for a £135 fee at a pound in Limerick city.

Drivers whose cars were taken had been stopped and found to have been driving without a licence or insurance.
It is estimated that up to 3,500 travellers descended on the town from Britain and continental Europe this year.

The HSE said this week that a special clinic set up in Rathkeale over the Christmas period dealt with 400 consultations over the two weeks it was open.
The clinic was set to stop a surge in patients at the A&E at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick city.