Members of the public are being urged to wear red when attending the protest march, which will depart from Pery Square at 3pm on Sunday and make its way to City Hall on Merchant's Quay, where a number of speakers will address the crowds.

Stephen Collins, father of Roy Collins, is urging people from across the country to "stand up and be counted" by attending the event. "It's important that people take this seriously, no event like this has happened in a long, long time and we need people on the streets to show the Government that we're serious about wanting change," he said.

"It's also a chance for the people of Limerick to stand up and be counted and I encourage everyone to support this on Sunday," he added.
Sunday's rally will be the first event of its kind in Limerick since the murder of nightclub bouncer, Brian Fitzgerald in 2002.

Following that killing a peace vigil was held outside City Hall to allow members of the public to express their outrage and anger at the killing.

Mayor Gilligan says this weekend's event is a chance for the "99 per cent of ordinary decent people in Limerick" to take back their city and for people across the country to take a stand against the criminal elements in Ireland.

"This is not just a Limerick problem, this is a nationwide problem. There have been ten gangland style murders in Dublin alone this year. As a nation this is something that we all have to face up to. We can't allow people who care nothing for human life to continue like this, we're not getting to grips with this and one more killing is one too many," he said.

Since the murder of Shane Geoghegan last November and the killing of Roy Collins on Holy Thursday Gardai have also come under considerable pressure to clamp down on the activities of criminal elements in the city.

Recent search operations have been headed up by Assistant Commissioner Kevin Ludlow and last week Commissioner Fachtna Murphy insisted that gardai would prevail over what, he described as, "thuggery" in Limerick.