THE hitman who gunned down a suspected drug dealer in the hallway of his rented home in Co Cork probably used a silencer.

UP to €100,000 in protection money may have been demanded from an unemployed father-of-two in the days before he was gunned down outside his rented home in Co Cork on Wednesday.

A man gunned down in the hallway of his Cork home was shot twice in the side before his killer fired again into his head, tests have revealed.

THE man who was gunned down in the hallway of his home in Co Cork yesterday was known to gardaí for his involvement in the drugs trade.

GARDAÍ questioning dissident republicans in connection with the murder of a convicted drug dealer seized more documents and mobile phones during a number of searches in Cork city yesterday.

GARDAÍ seized 320 rounds of 9mm ammunition — suitable for Uzi submachine guns — during an operation against dissident republicans yesterday, which also focused on the murder of a convicted drug dealer.

THE murder of Gerard “Topper” Staunton is only the fifth gangland killing to occur in Cork, but the fifth nationally this month.

The man who was shot dead in Cork last night has been named as Kieran O’Flynn.