A man understood to be a major gangland figure died overnight in hospital after he was found slumped at the wheel of his taxi in Dublin's city centre.
Niall Mulvihill (57) had been shot four times in the chest. Gardaí believe he was on his way to hospital when he crashed his car into traffic near the Big Tree pub on Dorset Street.
The crash happened at about 10 p.m. The Garda say Mr Mulvihill, from New Cabra Road, was shot at Spencer Dock Bridge at around 9.30 p.m.
It is understood the victim was known to gardaí as a "middle-man" who operated cover businesses for drug dealers.
He was believed to have had links with one-time Dublin crime boss Martin Cahill, known as "the General", who was shot dead in 1994.
It is also believed he had previously been the subject of investigations by the Criminal Assets Bureau.
A Garda spokesman said they were not following any definite lines of inquiry but they were conducting a "full murder investigation."
Post mortem results on Mr Mulvihill are due later today, he added.