A 17-year-old youth was last night being questioned in relation to a shotgun attack on the home of a Fianna Fáil councillor on Wednesday night.
The youth was arrested in Kilrush yesterday morning as a search for the shotgun used in the attack on the home of Cllr Stephen O'Gorman continued around the west Clare town.
He was arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, which allows gardaí to detain him for up to 24 hours with an option to extend the detention by 12 hours.
The youth was arrested in the John Paul Estate area, where Mr O'Gorman lives.
Clare Senator Brendan Daly (FF) warned yesterday that someone would be killed in the town if members of a particular group did not stop its criminal activity.
"The conduct this group of people is involved in is leading them down a cul-de-sac, which will ensure that many of them will end behind bars. I appeal to those people who have been involved in this and other incidents in this area to back off now before someone is killed in Kilrush."
The attack took place just after 8.30pm on Wednesday when a lone gunman fired a round from a double-barrelled shotgun through the front window of the O'Gorman home. No one was injured.
However, it was the seventh attack in recent months on Mr O'Gorman's property or a member of his family.
No one has been charged in relation to two attacks on his daughter, or the four previous incidents of his property being damaged.
Of the latest attack, Mr O'Gorman said: "This won't silence me in continuing to highlight the criminality that continues to stalk Kilrush. It is a very small number of people we are talking about here, but these are thugs whose behaviour is bordering on gangsterism.
"More gardaí are needed in Kilrush on a permanent basis as the anti-social behaviour goes on."
A study last year identified 43 young men or 12 per cent of the Kilrush adolescent population engaged in intimidation and violence.
