The angry scenes caused the staff to close their offices early. Some of the staff went home while others went to the Southside Regeneration Agency's offices in Roxboro.

A spokesman for the regeneration agency said it is unclear if the organisation will return to Moyross at all. "We have to look at our options. There are issues that need looking at. For us to be attacked in the kind of way we were is very disappointing," he said.

The chairman of the Joint Policing Authority, Cllr Kevin Kiely, described the scenes as appalling and called for a full Garda investigation.

Although the horses were removed from lands outside people's houses under council bye-laws, anger was directed at the Northside Regeneration Agency.

Local resident Pat McCarthy said: "The problem is not with the regeneration agency, it is with Limerick City Council. But regeneration can resolve the problem by bringing everyone around the table. We can give people here great support - but we want to see that support."