Murder victim ‘was trying to turn his life around’

Martin O’Rourke was trying to turn his life around and was expecting another child when he was gunned down in Dublin last week.

The 24-year-old was shot dead on Sheriff St in a case of mistaken identity. The attack is being linked to the feud between the Kinahan crime cartel and the Hutch gang, which has claimed five lives, including four in Dublin in 10 weeks.

Larry Power, the father of Mr O’Rourke’s partner, said Martin had been clean of drugs for seven and a half months and was on his way to a back to education course when he was shot.

“Martin had been mixed up in drugs and this, that and the other for the last couple of years, but for the last 10 months, I’d gotten him sorted out — doing a few different bits.

“He was on his way down Sheriff St, he always used cut through there to get down to his programme.

“Unfortunately, the chap that they were looking for was wearing the same kind of jacket as my son-in-law Martin,” he told RTÉ’s Liveline.

Mr Power’s daughter Angelina was due to marry Mr O’Rourke and the couple had three children together — a four-year-old girl, a two-year-old boy, and an eight-month-old baby. They were also expecting their fourth child.

Mr Power said that the gunman fired 13 rounds and that a number of people were in the firing line.

“People have said it’s a mistaken identity, more people said it was a ricochet — this guy, he didn’t have any whatsoever regard for any life.

“When he came in, he fell off the bike, he got back on the bike and took out the thing, and exchanged 13 rounds of ammunition around the whole area.

“Now there was two or three other young lads nearly got it there as well at the same time Martin got it. [He was shooting at] anyone and everyone, It didn’t really matter who he got. It was like that he was out of his head on the bike,” he said.

Mr Power said he arrived on Sheriff St shortly after the attack but had no idea that it was his future son-in-law who had been killed.

“As I was walking in, there was police everywhere and the forensics throughout the lot,” he said.

“I just turned around and walked away. I didn’t bother walking back in; I still had no idea that Martin was the person that had been done. I still didn’t have any idea.”

Mr Power said he had known Mr O’Rourke since he was a teenager and that he looked on him as a son.

“Martin had nobody. He told me on a million different occasions that he never had nobody. All he ever had was me and my wife... The first time I got to know Martin was about seven and a half years ago.

“I looked after him to the best of my ability. I brought him in and treated him like a son. He has three kids by my daughter so I didn’t have any alternative but to treat him like a son,” he said.