Gun victim had survived 3 attempts on his life

A cluster of girls jumped around a uniformed garda. “We were on the telly,” they all shouted together and bounced away, running up to the tape cordoning off the latest gangland murder.

Across the road, inside a terraced house, lay the body of John Wilson, the third victim of a gun attack in five days.

The girls, ranging in age from about five to eight, skipped around the white and blue Garda tape.