Three men were being detained by gardaí in Dublin last night following an incident in which two people were shot in the Dunsink Lane area of Finglas yesterday afternoon.
The shooting, in which one man was seriously injured, is part of an ongoing security situation in the lane which is home to hundreds of Travellers.
Yesterday's incident occurred at about 3.30 p.m. One man was dropped to nearby Cappagh Hospital, though by whom was not known last night. He was transferred to James Connolly Memorial Hospital where he was described as seriously injured. He had been shot twice.
The men who were detained were being held at Blanchardstown Garda station under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. They can be held for up to 72 hours.
A Garda spokesman could not say whether they were members of the Travelling community.
Journalists and members of the public were warned by gardaí to "stay away" from the Dunsink Lane area last night as plainclothes armed gardaí patrolled the area.
The taxi in which this reporter was travelling was stopped by an unmarked Garda vehicle blocking its path.
Two plainclothes gardaí, pointing handguns at the taxi, asked the driver and reporter to put their hands out of the car and slowly walk away from it.
With guns still pointing at us we were asked for identification and we were shown Garda ID. Apologising for the inconvenience, one of the gardaí said: "If you want a piece of advice, stay away from here. You have no idea how dangerous it is up here."
Minutes later an alert came through on the taxi's messaging screen telling all drivers to stay away from the Dunsink Lane area.
Meanwhile, a controversial barrier remains in place midway along the lane. It replaced an earlier barrier - erected by the local councils to stop illegal dumping - which was the focus of major protests by Travellers living on the lane.
