Bunratty shooting victim still in critical condition

Gardaí are continuing to question two men after a weekend gun attack in Co. Clare.

A 21-year-old man remains in a critical condition in hospital after being shot in the early hours of Sunday morning while attending a family wedding at Bunratty Castle.

Yesterday, Gardaí arrested two men in Cork city in connection with the attack.

Both are in their twenties.

At around 3.40am today, 21-year-old Robert Sheehan from Moyross in Limerick stepped outside the hotel to have a cigarette. He was attending a family wedding at the time.

He was approached by two gunmen and shot a number of times in the head and body. The gunmen fled the scene in a dark-coloured saloon type car.

Mr Sheehan was taken to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick, where he is understood to be fighting for his life.

The victim is known to gardaí and has served a number of jail sentences for serious criminal activity.

In October 2007, Mr Sheehan was sentenced to two years detention after he pleaded guilty to recklessly endangering the lives of children Gavin and Millie Murray at Pineview Gardens, Moyross, in September 2006.

The four-year-old boy and six-year-old girl sustaiined horrific burns when their mother's car was petrol-bombed in an unprovoked attack by two other young men, for whom Mr Sheehan had acted as a look-out.

At the time of that case, the court heard that gardaí accepted the three did not know the two children were in the car. Mr Sheehan had helped to pull Gavin from the blaze.

Investigating officers recovered a firearm close to the scene of today's shooting.

An incident room has been set up to investigate the shooting. Gardaí at Shannon garda station are appealing for anyone with information to contact them.