Dublin man (31) shot dead in latest drugs feud violence

A Dublin man was shot dead in a gangland style drive-by shooting last night in what gardaí believe is the latest killing in a drugs feud which has already claimed eight lives.

The dead man, Gary Bryan (31), was standing on the footpath outside a house on Bunting Road, Walkinstown, at about 7pm when a car pulled up alongside and one of its occupants opened fire. The victim slumped to the ground and died immediately on the pavement.

Gardaí sealed off the scene, where the State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy was due to carry out a preliminary examination of the remains last night.

The dead man was well known to gardaí. His murder was last night being linked by sources to an ongoing feud in the Crumlin and Drimnagh areas.

The feud resulted in the killing of three men in gun attacks in Firhouse and Clontarf in a 48-hour period last November. Last month Dublin drug dealer Wayne Zambra (21) was shot dead outside a pub on Cameron Street, Dublin.

He was part of one of the factions involved in the feud. The tit-for-tat killings between the factions have been ongoing since August 2001.

Those involved in the feud have been put under close Garda surveillance in recent months as part of Operation Anvil, which has been specifically targeting armed gangs in Dublin for the last 16 months.

While gardaí say they are satisfied the activities of gang members have been disrupted, they say it is impossible to conduct permanent surveillance on all suspects.

Bryan was a known drug dealer with a long history of involvement in very serious armed crime. Seven months ago he found himself charged with murder before the Central Criminal Court.

However, the charges against him were withdrawn after his former girlfriend, who had turned State witness, said she could not remember what she had said in Garda statements because she was "strung out" on cocaine.

Bryan, who was originally from Tallaght, had been charged with the murder of Dubliner Paul Warren. The 24-year-old was shot dead in February 2004 while playing pool in Grey's pub, Newmarket Square, in the south inner city.

Gardaí believed Bryan was the masked gunman who entered the pub and shot at Warren three times, once in the back as he tried to flee and once in the face. He told his accomplice: "I got him, let's get out of here."

In 1998, he found himself before the courts in relation to his role in a foiled armed robbery at the Coachman's Inn, in north Dublin.

Bryan and others entered the pub in April 1998 and tied up staff. However, they were seen entering the pub by a passerby who alerted gardaí. Bryan admitted he was carrying a sawn-off rifle during the botched raid.

Gardaí investigating his murder were last night conducting house-to-house inquiries in the vicinity of the shooting. A number of children who were playing on Bunting Road at the time are believed to have witnessed the murder. Anybody with information on the killing is asked to contact Crumlin Garda station on (01) 6666200.