John Gilligan expected to recover from attack

Former crime boss John Gilligan is expected to recover after he escaped with his life despite being shot some four times at close range.

The 61-year-old had only arrived at his brother’s house in Clondalkin, west Dublin, where a christening party was being held when two masked gunmen entered and fired up to six shots in his direction.

Gilligan, the leader of the gang that murdered journalist Veronica Guerin in June 1996, was hit in the leg, hip, chest and stomach in the hallway of the house on Greenfort Crescent at 7pm on Saturday.