The Emergency Response Unit is to be deployed in Limerick to support local garda in the fight against gang crime.
Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy made the announcement along with Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern after they met with senior gardaí in Limerick this afternoon.
The Commissioner said the ERU would provide considerable armed resources in the city to reassure the public.
He also said it would have a presence on the ground as a number of high-profiles trials are scheduled to be heard in the coming weeks.
The announcement follows a meeting between the Minister and Steve Collins in Dublin last week.
Mr Collins' son Roy was murdered in a gang-related attack at the family bar in Roxboro last year and tomorrow is the first anniversary of his death.
