Shooting victim known to Garda for role in drugs trade

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.

But neighbours who met Darren Falsey, 36, on a daily basis in and around Carrigaline described him as a devoted father who loved Munster rugby and Spurs soccer team. Some said they had heard rumours about his background.

“This is a small place and you hear a lot of things. I didn’t believe everything I heard,” one man said.

“I saw him around with his kids a few times, and he’d always say hello. He always had a smile on his face. You might see him the odd time in local bars with a few of the lads. I’d meet him in the local bookies and we’d have a joke.”

His partner found him in a pool of blood in the hallway of their home at Ashbourne Court on the Fernlea Road, just a few metres from Foster’s Cross on the southern side of Carrigaline town, at about 2.45pm yesterday when she returned home. He had been shot a number of times at close range in a killing that bore all the hallmarks of a gangland hit.

Ambulance crews rushed to the scene and gardaí were alerted, but Mr Falsey was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.

The house, a former veterinary clinic, was immediately sealed off.

A child’s bicycle lay inside the sliding door of the porch near a water pistol, a pile of children’s runners and football boots.

Members of the armed Regional Support Unit parked outside as Garda forensic experts conducted a technical examination inside the house and awaited the arrival of the state pathologist.

The body was removed to Cork University Hospital last night, where a post-mortem examination will take place today.

Mr Falsey grew up with his two brothers and sister in the Waterfall area just outside Cork City and attended the city’s Presentation Brothers College second-level school. He left for Britain to study at Tottenham Polytechnic College in London before returning to Ireland, where he became involved in criminality and the drugs scene in his early 20s. Sources say he never took drugs himself and lead a relatively quiet, unassuming life.

He lived for a time in Frankfield before moving a few years ago to the large detached house at Ashbourne Court, where he lived with his partner and a young child.

The Mayor of County Cork, Cllr Tim Lombard, was in Carrigaline when he heard sirens going off.

“I was in the bank and, when I came out, I met one of the locals who told me there had been a shooting,” he said. “I was amazed and horrified that such a thing would happen here.

“I know Carrigaline is a big town, with a population of around 20,000, but in living memory there has never been a crime of such magnitude here.”

He said there was “a huge sense of shock” among locals. “It is important that anybody with any relevant information contact the gardaí as soon as possible. It is important that the community works together to ensure that whoever perpetrated this awful crime is brought to justice.”

Local businessman John A Collins, who owns a local supermarket, said people could not believe what had happened.

“Ashbourne Estate is within three minutes’ walk of the town centre and it is one of the most peaceful and law-abiding places you could ever imagine.”

Mr Collins, who has represented the town as a county councillor for seven years, said the estate was predominantly populated by mature and highly respected upper-middle class families.

Most neighbours who gathered in groups near Mr Falsey’s house declined to speak to the media. But two men spoke of their shock.

“I thought it was a car crash first, when I saw all the people rubber-necking,” one man said.

“You kind of expect to hear about this kind of thing in Dublin or Limerick, but not in Carrigaline.”

His friend, John, had lived for several years in Ocean Beach in San Francisco.

“You’d hear about shootings and murders all the time over there, especially in Oaklands near where I lived,” he said.

“I moved back here about a year-and-a-half ago and never expected to hear anything like this.”

Gardaí would not be drawn on possible motives for the killing last night, but it is expected their probe will focus on the possibility that dissident republicans were involved.

The Real IRA, which claimed responsibility for the murder of convicted drug dealer Gerard “Topper” Staunton in Cork City in January 2010, and the shooting of Kieran O’Flynn in June 2001, has in the last two years threatened to kill drug dealers in Cork.

Last February, the Real IRA distributed leaflets in a number of Cork pubs in which it warned drug dealers that they would face a similar fate to Staunton unless they gave up their activities.

Gardaí investigating Mr Falsey’s killing have issued an appeal for help.

They want to hear from anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious in the Ashbourne Court area of Carrigaline between 1pm and 3pm yesterday to contact them at Togher Garda Station on 021-4947120.

Picture: A garda stands outside the house of Darren Falsey in Ashbourne Court, Carrigaline, Co Cork. Picture: Cillian Kelly