GARDAI last night said they were concerned about the safety of a young west Belfast man missing since the murder of John Fennell, the Belfast republican who was beaten to death in Donegal on Tuesday morning.
A senior garda said last night that they were concerned about Mr James Gerard Halligan (26), who had been in the company of Fennell shortly before Mr Fennell was murdered, and who has not been seen since. It is feared he might have been abducted.
Mr Halligan is believed to have spent Monday evening in Fennell's company at a public house in Bundoran, Co Donegal, where they watched a football match on television. He left before Fennell, who was seen in the company of other men.
Last night his brother expressed fear that he had been abducted.
Mr Francis Halligan said: "Four weeks ago Seamus gave, up his job and went to live in a caravan belonging to our family in Bundoran. He had fallen out with his girlfriend and had been going on drinking binges.
He could have met John Fennell in a bar and had a drink and a chat with him. We fear that, Seamus could have asked him back to the caravan and he might have been there when Fennell was attacked.
"If Seamus has been abducted, we would appeal to whoever has him to let him go. He is not a sinister character. He had no links with any paramilitary group. His only problem is he likes a drink."
Gardai emphasised that Mr Halligan was not suspected of involvement in the attack on Fennell. They fear that he might be under threat.
It is believed that Fennell was attacked as he made his way back to a caravan park off Main Street in Bundoran and beaten savagely for a prolonged period. It also appears that he had been dragged about, 20 yards as, there was a trail of blood between the two main pools of blood. His body was found on Tuesday afternoon by workmen.
It is suspected Fennell was killed as a result of a feud in the Irish National Liberation, Army (INLA). He was associated with the leader of a faction which is believed to have killed the Belfast INLA figure, Gino Gallagher, on January 30th last in Belfast. The IRSP has denied that Fennell was associated with the party or the republican socialist movement.
Fennell was a known drug dealer in Belfast and a close friend of another man, Gerald Butler (40) who was shot dead in a drugs feud involving INLA figures and loyalists in south Belfast in 1993.
In recent years Fennell has been a close associate of a man who had led the INLA until the middle of last year. The group with which Fennell was associated is believed to have killed Gino Gallagher as part of an internal power struggle in the INLA. Associates of Gallagher are suspected of Fennell's killing.
Fennell had, in the past, threatened journalists who were writing about the INLA.