‘And Billy Hagerty is or was an active member of the O’Flynn gang, am I right about that?’

‘Billy and Thomas knew each other, for sure, but if Billy ever took part in any of the O’Flynns’ criminal activities, we have no evidence of it.’

‘Donal Hagerty not only murdered Michael Riordan, but he also murdered Michael Riordan’s wife and his two young kiddies – shot and killed all four of them in cold blood, while the kiddies were sitting in front of the telly watching Paw Patrol. The O’Flynns and the Riordans have been at each other’s throats for decades and you know that as well as I do, DS Maguire. And you’re trying to tell us here today that none of these deaths are in any way connected?’

‘No, Owen, I’m not. All I’m telling you is that we can’t yet prove that they are – not beyond any reasonable doubt.’

‘But, come here, the feud between the O’Flynns and the Riordans here in Cork, it’s becoming as bad as the Hutches and the Kinahans in Dublin. Worse, in many ways, because it’s not so much of a territorial war over drugs, it’s more because they plain hate each other, and they’ve hated each other for so long they can’t even remember why.’

‘I know that, Owen.’

‘I know you know it. But what are you doing about it, that’s the issue? A criminal court justice has been burned to death. The streets of Cork are running with blood. But what are you all doing here in Anglesea Street? Sitting on your hands waiting for evidence, that’s what you’re doing.’

Katie glanced at Mathew, who pulled a non-committal face, as if to say, Typical Irish Sun reporter, deliberately stirring it. Then she turned back to Owen Dineen and said, ‘I don’t know if that merits any kind of an answer, Owen, to be honest with you. Are you trying to suggest that crime in the city is now out of control?’

‘Those are your words, DS Maguire.’

‘Well, listen. In the past eighteen months I’ve set up a dedicated new team to work with the Regional Drugs Unit to investigate and break up the illegal trade in drugs and opioids. I’ve also assigned over fifteen detectives to gather intelligence on the various criminal gangs who operate in and around the city – and I’m not only talking about the Riordans and the O’Flynns, but the Romanian begging gangs and the Nigerian sex-trafficking gangs and the shoplifting gangs and the travellers conning elderly ladies out of thousands for repairing their roofs when they don’t need repairing. I don’t think you could call that “sitting on our hands”, not by any stretch of the Sun’s imagination.’