Shooting takes gangland death toll to 13

A man was found shot dead in what gardaí believe could bring the number of gangland-style killings in Ireland this year to more than a dozen.

The victim’s body was found on a roadside in Finglas, in north Dublin, at around 5.20am, leading to a major murder investigation in the area.

Although gardaí do not yet know the motive behind the killing, it bore all the hallmarks of a gangland murder.

It came just a day after two other fatal shootings.

John Ryan was gunned down by two men on a motorcycle in Limerick as he carried out work on a patio on Monday evening, sparking fears of an escalation of a violent family feud between the Ryan and Keane families.

Just hours later, a 35-year-old man was shot dead in Tallaght, Dublin.

Three men called to a house on the Balrothery estate and asked for the victim by name. When he came to the door, the man was shot several times.

Labur’s justice spokesman Joe Costello said there were eight such killings in Ireland last year, and 13 just halfway through 2003.

He said: “There must be no question of ‘turning a blind eye’ to these killings or regarding them as somehow less serious because some of the victims are believed to have been involved in crime.

“When crime bosses believe that they can pass death sentences on others and have them carried out with virtually no fear of conviction, then we are experiencing a real and unacceptable breakdown of law and order.“

The identity of the man found dead in Finglas today was not known.

Gardaí preserved the scene for forensic examinations and a team from the Garda Technical Bureau was on its way.