Gardaí look for third man after Tallaght shooting

Gardaí are now looking for a third man in connection with a murder in Tallaght on Wednesday night.

A 35-year-old man, named locally as Alan O’Neill, was shot multiple times in the doorway of a house in the Kiltalown Road area of Jobstown.

Gardaí were informed of the incident at 10.35pm that evening, just minutes after two men aged 18 and 28 were arrested at the scene of a burning car at nearby Belfry Square in Citywest.

They were arrested in connection with the shooting, and are currently being held in Tallaght Garda Station where they can be detained for 72 hours before they are either charged or released.

Mr O'Neill received treatment from emergency services, but died from his injuries after being transferred to Tallaght Hospital a short time later.

Superintendent Peter Duff appealed to members of the public who may have witnessed a third man escaping from the scene of the burned-out car in Belfry Square on Wednesday.

“Two of the males were arrested by gardaí at the scene, one male fled the scene. A few minutes later, the gardaí got a call saying there had been a shooting incident at 59 Kiltalown Road Tallaght, and a man had been shot. When gardaí got to the scene they found a man lying in the doorway of a house.

"We are appealing for any witnesses who were in the Belfry Square, Belfry Manor area from 10pm to approx 11.30pm and may have seen a dark coloured Nissan Almera car. The car that was burned out was a silver Mazda car," he said.

He added that both the Nissan Almera and the silver Mazda, which was extensively damaged during the fire, are currently the subject of technical examinations. Gardaí have not released a description of the third individual who managed to evade arrest.

Although Supt Duffy confirmed Mr O’Neill was not known to the authorities and Garda sources say the killing may be linked to the drugs trade.

The main line of inquiry being explored is that the dead man owed money to a west Dublin drugs gang and was killed in a dispute over the non-payment of that debt.

Neighbours on Kiltalown Road, who described the incident as “absolutely crazy”, have been leaving bouquets of flowers outside the house, which remained cordoned off as gardaí continued to conduct forensic investigations.

Numerous bullet holes were evident on the front door and glass panes at the entrance to the house yesterday evening. The victim, believed to be a father of two children, was shot multiple times, and it is not known if anyone else was in the house at the time of the attack.

The property is located just around the corner from where Tánaiste and Labour Party leader Joan Burton was trapped in her car following a graduation ceremony in the Mary Mercer Centre in Kiltalown last November.