Gun attack victim in serious condition as bloody year of gang violence ends

THE victim of a suspected Dublin gang-related gun attack remained in a serious condition in hospital last night after being shot three times on Thursday evening.

Gardaí are continuing to investigate the attack which occurred outside The Cappagh Nua public house on Barry Road in Finglas at approximately 8.30pm.

The 40-year-old man was standing outside the public house when a dark-coloured car, believed to a Volkswagen Estate, drove up.

The front seat passenger got out and fired a number of shots hitting the victim in the chest.

The gunman got back into the car which was driven off in the direction of Barry Avenue. The injured man was rushed to Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown.

Yesterday, investigating officers appealed to anyone who may have seen the dark coloured car prior to the shooting, or after the incident, or to any person who may have information, to contact the incident room at Finglas 01-6667500, or the Garda Confidential Line 1 800 666 111.

The shooting came at the conclusion of a another bloody year of gang-related violence.

In total, 2010 saw 23 gun murders compared with 19 in 2009.

The rate of gun murders in Ireland now runs at more than three times that of England and Wales with only one in eight cases concluding in a prosecution.

The continued high rate of gang-related violence has been linked to the recession and to falling incomes that have choked off public demand for so-called recreational drugs.

This is resulting in armed gangs attempting to assert their control in a declining market.

The high rate of gun murder came despite 2010 seeing a cooling down of gang feuds in Dublin’s southside and in Limerick.

However, a vicious feud between gangs centred in Dublin’s north inner city, which has seen five murders, continued with the wounding of a man as recently as December 17 near Dublin Airport.

A large-scale confrontation between a criminal gang associated with dissident, armed republicans and other longer established drugs gangs on Dublin’s northside directly resulted in one death during 2010 and threatens to worsen in the coming months.