Man shot dead in Dublin 'gangland attack'

A man has been shot dead in a gangland-style gun attack in west Dublin.

The shooting happened outside a house on Cloverhill Road, Clondalkin, just before 3pm.

A Garda spokesman said the victim was pronounced dead at the scene, which has been preserved for a technical examination.

He was in his 30s and was known to gardaí.

Gardaí said an incident room has been set up at Ballyfermot Garda Station.

It is understood the latest victim was being followed as he collected his children from school.

Sources said he was shot dead as he tried to flee and run in to his house while his children sat in the car.

It is believed a car suspected of being used by the gunman was discovered a short distance away.

The shooting is the third gangland hit in a week, and the fourth this month.

Two convicted criminals were killed in unrelated shootings in front of their children on Monday.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter admitted there had been some shocking incidents of serious criminality in the past week, including murders which he said “have the full and determined attention of the gardaí”.

Declan O’Reilly was gunned down on South Circular Road in Dublin, less than 12 hours after Gerard Eglington was murdered in his home in Portarlington, Co Laois.

It is suspected 32-year-old O’Reilly was murdered in retaliation for stabbing a fellow inmate in Mountjoy Prison to death in September 2007, while 27-year-old Eglington became the latest victim of the bloody Crumlin/Drimnagh feud, which has claimed more than a dozen lives over the last 10 years.

Earlier this month, Real IRA boss Alan Ryan was shot near his north Dublin home.