Gun victim was brother of murdered man

A drug dealer who was shot dead in a pub early today is the brother of a gangland figure murdered three years ago.

The 36-year-old, named locally as Alan McNally, was gunned down in the Cappagh Nua bar in Finglas, north Dublin, shortly after 1am.

He had recently been released from jail for supplying heroin.

His brother, Graham, was murdered about a mile from the pub in January 2009 after a suspected falling-out with major drug trafficking associate Eamon Dunne, himself the victim of a gangland execution.

Gardaí said the latest killing was carried out by a lone gunman armed with a handgun.

The attacker shot McNally several times in the head inside the pub in Barry Road after closing time before making his escape on foot towards the Casement area of Finglas.

McNally, a father of one who lived locally, had served a prison sentence for supplying heroin after being caught with a €200,000 consignment of the drug in Raheny in 2006.

He was jailed for seven and a half years with the last two years suspended after a judge was told that he had twice kicked a drugs habit and helped others in rehab.

During the trial, the court heard that McNally fell into addiction for a third time in 2006 because of a lack of financial and other support for his voluntary work with drug users.

Family and friends laid flowers outside the pub this morning as garda forensic officers prepared to carry out a technical examination of the scene.

McNally was rushed to the Connolly Memorial Hospital after the attack where he was pronounced dead.

His brother was a known associate of murdered north Dublin crime boss Dunne, who was nicknamed The Don and believed to have been the biggest drug trafficker in the capital before he himself was gunned down in a pub in Cabra in April 2010.

The murder of Graham McNally, 34 at the time of his death, was blamed on a falling-out among the Dunne gang.

The Cappagh Nua bar has been the scene of other attacks including the attempted murder of a 40-year-old as he stood outside on December 30 2010.

Gardaí appealed for witnesses or anyone with information to contact Finglas Garda Station or the confidential line.]

Meanwhile, in a separate gun attack, a 25-year-old man was blasted in the face by an attacker in the Blanchardstown area of Dublin late last night.

He was taken to the James Connolly Memorial Hospital.

A 31-year-old man has been arrested.