Dublin hit by another shooting

TWO men have died after a shooting in inner city Dublin last night.

Gardaí said the shooting took place just after 6.30pm at Pearse House flats complex in Pearse Street, where a spokesperson said two men were shot.

One of the men was taken to St James’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The other man was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital, believed to be suffering from wounds to the chest, and was undergoing treatment there last night. He was pronounced dead later.

The scene was immediately sealed off and preserved for technical examination.

Meanwhile, John Paul (JP) Joyce, the head of a drug trafficking outfit in Coolock, north Dublin, was found shot dead in a ditch near Dublin Airport on Saturday.

A notorious gang boss based in Finglas, north Dublin, is suspected of being involved in the killing. This feared criminal is thought to have ordered at least five of last year’s 21 gangland murders and is a suspect in relation to six murders before that.

Detectives also suspect that members of a gang previously led by BJ Clarke, who was gunned down last May, were involved in Joyce’s murder.

This Coolock gang is suspected of murdering JP’s brother, Tommy Joyce, last June, in retaliation for Clarke’s death. JP Joyce avenged his brother’s murder, which was seen as a direct threat to the Clarke gang.

Officers are examining the possibility that JP’s murder could have been a “collaboration” between the Finglas boss and the Clarke gang.

The Joyce brothers, members of a Traveller family based in Grove Lane, Coolock, ran a major drug trafficking operation and were targeted by local and national Garda units and the Criminal Assets Bureau.

JP Joyce had only been released last November from prison, where he served a two-year sentence for his role in a vicious unprovoked assault that left his innocent victim brain damaged.

Gardaí said Joyce, a father-of-two, was last seen by his partner at their home in Coolock last Thursday night. She reported him missing the following morning and on Saturday afternoon a walker spotted a partially submerged body in a ditch at Dunbro Lane in Swords. The body, which had received a number of gunshot wounds, was identified as that of JP Joyce.

Gardaí yesterday said the investigation was at an early stage and that they did not know for certain who killed Joyce. But senior sources said that the Finglas crime boss was featuring strongly in their investigations.

“There was friction between him and Joyce going back a long time,” said one source. He said the dispute was not gang related, which suggests a more personal row.

The Finglas gang boss has demonstrated repeatedly an urge to kill any enemies, no matter what the reason.

“He has very little respect for human life,” said the garda source.

Also on the suspect list are members of the Clarke gang, who felt threatened by JP’s warning that he would avenge his brother’s murder.

JP Joyce survived a number of previous attempts on his life. The most serious was a shooting at the Total Fitness Gym on the Malahide Road in June 2008.

The main suspect for that attack is also the main suspect for the double murder of Michael ‘Roly’ Cronin and James Maloney on January 7, 2009 in Dublin’s north inner city.