Elderly man shot in Clontarf 'a well-known criminal'

A well-known criminal was shot this afternoon in the Clontarf area of north Dublin, gardaí have confirmed.

The man, aged in his mid-60s, was seriously wounded in the Clontarf area of north Dublin at about 4pm this evening.

It is understood the man was found on the side of a road and taken to hospital.

The attack took place near Clontarf Castle.

It is understood a man was detained near the scene as a black Lexus car was being set alight.

In a statement, gardaí confirmed that a man in his 30s was arrested at the scene. He was taken for questioning at Clontarf Garda Station.

The shooting took place on Furry Park Road, Clontarf, near where the injured man has a house.

He was taken by ambulance to Beaumont Hospital.

The injured man served a jail sentence in the 1990s for possession of a kilo (2.2lb) of cocaine. He also served a sentence for assaulting a Workers Party member in the late 1980s.

In recent years he has been portrayed as a close associate and confidant of ruthless gang leader and drugs boss Eamonn “The Don” Dunne, who was shot dead in a pub in Cabra, north Dublin, in 2010.

The shooting was immediately linked to criminal feuds, with the injured man having already survived at least one attempt on his life in 2010, when his attacker's gun jammed.

He did not involve himself with garda investigations into the attack at the time.

Garda inquiries on the shooting will focus on a possible link to a bloody dispute with the Real IRA in north Dublin.

The leader of the terror faction, Alan Ryan, was murdered in September in a daylight gun attack. He had been embroiled in extortion and racketeering and demanding money from drugs gangs in the city.

Fourteen people have been shot dead in gun attacks linked to criminal gangs or disputes this year.