25 extra gardaí are being sent to Drogheda next month to deal with ongoing feuds between gangs in the Louth town.
Members of the Emergency Response Unit have also been deployed after recent attacks.
Around 74 feud-related incidents have taken place in the Louth town since last June.
That includes several petrol bomb attacks and an attempted murder in the last week alone.
The rise in violence led to calls from rank-and-file gardaí for 24-hour Armed Support Units to be established in every division in the country.
Delegates at the Garda Representative Association (GRA) annual conference said the force needs increased resources to tackle organised crime right around the country.
The decision to allocate more gardaí was confirmed following talks between the Garda Commissioner and the Justice Minister at the GRA conference in Killarney this afternoon.
New: Garda Commissioner Drew Harris confirms 25 Gardaí will be sent to Drogheda next month to try deal with growing feuds between criminal gangs in the town. 74 feud-related incidents since last summer including petrol bomb attacks and shootings.
— Shane Beatty (@ShaneBeattyNews) April 30, 2019
Commissioner Drew Harris is appealing to locals in Drogheda to report any criminality.
"This week the ERU has been drafted in to support local police in Drogheda," he said.
"We will continue on with the pressure.
"What I would ask if members of the public know of criminality or know information which could help with out enquiries, either contact us or contact Crimestoppers.
"We want to put these crime gangs out of business altogether."
Gang crime
Speaking at the conference today, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan insisted criminal gangs will be dealt with.
“Five petrol bombs over the weekend, an attempted murder last week – of course the people of Drogheda are concerned,” he said.
“We are all concerned.
“But I want to say to them, this level of lawlessness will not be tolerated anywhere. Not in Drogheda, not in Dingle and not in our capital city of Dublin.
“It will not be tolerated and it will be dealt with by the Garda Commissioner and his team.”
Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan arriving here at the GRA conference in Killarney pic.twitter.com/zrUQmNbKMu
— Shane Beatty (@ShaneBeattyNews) April 30, 2019
Feud
Gardaí in Drogheda said a number of innocent bystanders “very narrowly avoided being shot and seriously injured” in last Thursday’s “callous and reckless” shooting attack in the town.
A 36-year-old victim was hospitalised after being shot a number of times in the leg and shoulder during the attack – which investigators believe was a murder attempt.
Three petrol bomb attacks were carried out in the town in the early hours of Sunday morning, while two were carried out in the early hours of Saturday.
Meanwhile a group of youths threw a “suspect device” through the window of a house in the Moneymore area of the town just before midnight on Thursday night.
Assault
Meanwhile Gardaí are investigating an alleged assault on a man in Moneymore at around 10:30pm last night.
A man in his late 20s was taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital with non-life threatening after he was allegedly attacked by four men.
Gardaí said their investigations are ongoing.
