Gardaí investigating the shooting of an innocent young woman in a house in Cork city yesterday have recovered a firearm, writes Eoin English.

The handgun was found this morning in undergrowth close the house in Hollyhill where Ciara Sheehan was shot in the neck in the early hours yesterday.

Garda search teams had been scouring the area for evidence in the wake of the gun attack and Supt Con Cadogan described the recovery of the weapon as a significant development in the case.

The gun will now be subjected to detailed ballistics and forensic analysis to establish if it was the same weapon used in Sunday morning’s gun attack.

Gardaí are also examining threatening comments made on Facebook in the hours before the incident in which an individual threatened ‘war’ on named individuals.

Ms Sheehan, who was visiting her boyfriend, Dillon Cunningham at his house in Hollywood Estate, was shot through the window just after 1am when a firearm was discharged outside the home.

The house was one of several which had been attacked in the previous half an hour.

She suffered a bullet wound to her neck and was rushed by friends in a car to Cork University Hospital where she is now said to be in stable condition.

A bullet removed from her neck is also undergoing ballistic and forensic tests.

Two people, a man, 29 and a woman, 22, who were arrested nearby a short time later, are still being detained at separate Garda stations under the provisions of Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, for questioning about the incident.

The gun attack has been linked to an ongoing feud between a violent and aggressive man, who is known to gardaí, and members of the Cunningham family, described by neighbours as good, decent, honest people.