Martin Foley, the criminal injured in a shooting in Dublin at the weekend, has named his attacker as a member of a Crumlin drugs syndicate, whose feud with a rival gang has claimed 10 lives since 2001.
Foley was shot four times in the upper body, face and hip as he drove out of the Carlisle gym at Lower Kimmage Rd, Kimmage, just after 3pm on Saturday.
The gunman, who used a Glock pistol, fired up to 12 shots after Foley saw him approaching and tried to speed from the scene in his Audi car. He crashed into a driveway across the road. He was not wearing a bullet-proof vest and gardaí were not aware of any current threat to his life.
The gunman, who was not masked, fled the scene in a waiting vehicle. A white Ford van found partly burnt out at Wainsfort Road, less than a mile away, was being examined last night. Gardaí believe it was the getaway car and that a second car, an Opel Vectra, was also used.
As Foley was being shot he called out the name of the gunman several times, repeating it when gardaí arrived. He was then taken to St James's Hospital where he had emergency surgery.
Foley has not given a formal statement to gardaí. In the past he has refused to give evidence against people who have attacked him, including an IRA gang who abducted him in 1984.
Despite his wounds the 55-year-old from Cashel Avenue, Crumlin, is expected to survive. One of the bullets grazed his temple and right eye socket.
Foley, a father of two known as The Viper, has survived four other attempts on his life and gardaí say while he clearly has many enemies they believe Saturday's attack is most likely linked to the feud in Crumlin and Drimnagh.
The man who Foley named as his attacker is in his 20s and from the South Circular Road area. He is very closely aligned to the leader of one of the feuding gangs. The alleged gunman's father is also very heavily involved in organised crime. He has been implicated in murder and armed robbery with hostage taking.
Gardaí believe Foley has in recent years been associated with members of both of the feuding gangs. Some media reports have also claimed he is a Garda informer. The feud began in 2001 with a fatal stabbing after a botched drug deal.
Said one Garda source: "We get reports of him being linked to one side [ in the feud] and then the other so it's a question of keeping an open mind until a clearer picture emerges."