"Peace deal" reached in traveller feud

A peace deal between feuding traveller families in Mullingar has been reached after weekend violence in the Grange, D"Alton Park and Ennell Court estates resulted in thousands of euros worth of property damage and five arrests.The deal was reached after meetings were held with Mullingar Gardaí on Monday afternoon and night.The violence is understood to have began at around 1.30am early on Friday morning, when a number of windows were broken at a house in D"Alton Park. At around 3.20am on the same morning, a house nearby had its polythene window coverings set alight. Gardaí reported that a family - including small children - occupied the house at the time.The fire caused extensive damage to the front of the house, and was quenched by Mullingar Fire Services personnel.Then, at 9.55pm on Friday night, when a car was set alight at the Ennell Court estate in Mullingar West. In the Grange estate at the same time, Gardaí and fire services were called to an unoccupied house at Grange when a petrol bomb was reportedly thrown through the window.An hour later in Grange, as tensions heightened, Gardaí stopped and searched a car, and recovered an offensive weapon which had been in the possession of a youth.On Saturday, August 23 at 7pm, a derelict house was set on fire in Ennell Court, but Gardaí reported that this was not feud-related. The top flight of a house at D"Alton Park caught fire at 2.30am on Sunday morning, and this is understood to have been accidental.On Monday morning, Gardaí recovered several trollies filled with rocks and bottles in D"Alton Park, and fearing a repeat of the recent riot in the same estate earlier in the month, Gardaí increased their presence in the Mullingar estates, and a Garda helicopter took to the skies to monitor the situation. After a Garda checkpoint was established, at around 4pm on Monday evening, two men - who are understood to be members of the feuding Mullingar families - were arrested for motoring offences.At the same time, members of the families were involved in the first meeting with Gardaí aimed at cooling tensions, leading to the peace deal on Monday night.'At a second meeting between the feuding families and Gardaí on Monday night, recent tensions were defused, and both sides have agreed to refrain from engaging in criminal damage and public disorder,' a Garda spokesperson said.Of the five men arrested by Mullingar Gardaí since Friday, one remains in custody, while four have been released on bail. Two men appeared at a special sitting of Tullamore District Court on Sunday last charged with elements of the criminal damage.