Fatal shooting of father leaves 10-year-old son an orphan

Gardaí search for evidence at the scene on Belclare Terrace, Ballymun, on Friday, where Patrick Lyons was shot dead on Thursday night. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Gardaí are examining a range of possible motives for the gangland-style murder of a father in north Dublin on Thursday night.

Patrick Lyons, 44, was walking along a laneway near his home in Ballymun when he was shot an estimated five times by at least one attacker.

He leaves behind a 10-year-old son, who only last week lost his mother, Mr Lyons' girlfriend.

Both Mr Lyons and his partner had a long history of drug use and had been long-term clients of local drug addiction services.

The victim, along with his son, lived with his own mother, who locals described as a "lovely lady".

Mr Lyons was not considered a serious criminal or gangland figure, and had convictions for relatively minor offences, such as theft and drug offences.

Sources said he may have been used as a scout and messenger by a local drug gang.

Lines of inquiry are understood to include any possible drug debts he might have owed or any other drug disputes he might have been involved in.

But detectives are also expected to investigate local reports that he may have been involved, along with other people, in a recent burglary.

Community sources said Mr Lyons may have talked in the area about the theft of a significant amount of cash from a house safe.

The suspicion is the house, possibly unknown to him, may have belonged to a serious criminal and that a revenge attack was ordered.

This is set to be investigated by detectives to determine if such a burglary occurred, if Mr Lyons was involved, and if there are any likely suspects.

Gangland feuds

Some community sources said gangland feuds that were very active in the area had “quietened” in recent years, with the “odd eruption”.

These sources stress that open drug dealing in the area was “24/7” in recent years and that young people were being “used and recruited running and storing drugs”.

They said there was a need for “visible policing”.

Local Fianna Fáil TD Paul McAuliffe said he was in the area, talking to locals.

“People have become numb to this type of violence. It brings a stigma to Ballymun with the negative publicity," he said.

A lot of people in the local area are working so hard – there’s a lot of work in Belclare on the environment and the tidy town, but we effectively have these drug cartels in the area exploiting people and people caught up in addiction and the dangers of that.” 

He said it was terrible for locals having this happening on their doorstep.

In relation to the Garda presence in the area, he said: “It’s almost impossible to police this type of shooting, but open drug dealing is tolerated, and some areas are like a supermarket. Open drug dealing is much more pronounced in recent years.” 

Andrew Montague, who is chairperson of the Ballymun Local Drugs Task Force, told RTÉ radio there were not enough gardaí to deal with drug-related criminality and not enough social workers to deal with the children being left neglected.

“I talk to local gardaí here and they would tell me they just can’t cope with the level of open drug dealing going on in the area," he said. "They don’t have the resources they need and we need a serious step up in Garda resources.”

He is completing a report for Dublin City Council on the impact of open dealing on the community.