Man shot dead outside Dublin pub in decade-old gangland family feud

A MAN in his 40s has been shot dead in what is believed to be related to a long-standing gangland feud in north Dublin.

The man, who was named locally as David Thomas from Finglas south, was shot outside the Drake Inn pub in Finglas village at 8.40pm last night.

He is understood to have been shot twice at close range during the incident, and had died by the time officers arrived at the scene.

Local sources last night confirmed that the man had been known to gardaí and was believed to be involved in a long-standing feud with another family in nearby Ballymun.

The feud began almost a decade ago when a member of the O’Reilly family was shot in an incident believed to have involved Mr Thomas. The scene of the latest shooting had last night been preserved by local gardaí and was awaiting a forensics examination this morning.

The fatal shooting comes after official statistics earlier this year showed a significant rise in murders and shootings since spring.

The Central Statistics Office figures revealed that between April and June alone there were 15 murders across the country, compared with just eight in the same period last year.

The scale of gun crime is also reflected in the number of shootings, jumping from 49 to 68 in the last quarter.

Dublin and Limerick have been among the worst affected, with the Finglas shooting coming after a wave of similar gangland murders in the northside of Dublin city in recent months.