Dublin underworld figure arrested in connection with gangland murder

One of the Republic's most notorious gangland figures has been arrested in connection with a Kinahan-Hutch feud gun murder in Dublin during the summer. The suspect, who is a central figure in Ireland in the Kinahan international crime gang and was also heavily involved in the Crumlin- Drimnagh feud, was arrested on Tuesday afternoon in connection with the murder of Daithí Douglas.

Mr Douglas (55), Killala Road, Cabra, was shot in the doorway of a shop he ran with his wife on Bridgefoot Street, Dublin, on July 1st. He later died.

Gardaí believe he had been blamed by the Kinahan gang for a botched gun attack on one of its members late last year and was shot in revenge. Some Garda sources have linked the killing to the Kinahan-Hutch feud.

An effort had been made to shoot Mr Douglas dead at his home in Cabra, north Dublin, last November. He was wounded but survived and was still recovering from his injuries when he was gunned down outside the shoe shop he ran with his wife in July.

The man arrested in Dublin on Tuesday has been a key target of the Garda specialist units for almost 20 years. He was a leading figure in a gun feud between two gangs in the neighbouring Dublin suburbs of Crumlin and Drimnagh that began in 2000 and claimed about 15 lives over the next decade.

Most of those involved in that dispute were either killed or are in prison, although this criminal has since become a key member of the Kinahan drugs gang. He divides his time between his native Dublin and southern Spain where Christy Kinahan and other veteran Irish criminals who run the gang are based.

Gardaí believe he was involved in the murder of father of one Mr Douglas with other gang members. Mr Douglas was a convicted drug dealer and armed robber. He had married in recent years and had a young child with his wife.

He spent time in prison with Dubliner Darren Kearns. The Kinahan gang believed the men had combined to attempt to shoot one of its members at a pub in west Dublin last November.

Mr Douglas was shot and wounded shortly after that botched attack and Mr Kearns (33) was dead within weeks. A drugs user and convicted dealer, he was shot dead in a pub car park at Blackhorse Avenue, Dublin, last December.

The Kearns murder is also believed to have been carried out by the Kinahan gang in revenge for the botched attempt on the life of one of its members.