In December 2008, O'Dea and Tánaiste, Mary Coughlan flew to Dell's Corporate HQ in Texas in a last-ditch and ultimately futile attempt to stop the closure of Dell's manufacturing plant in Raheen, Limerick.
The slaying of two wholly innocent men in Limerick within months of each other: Shane Geoghegan and Roy Collins increased pressure on O'Dea locally, as a member of the Cabinet, to secure changes to the law and greater resources to tackle Limerick city's gangland crime [REF].