THE killing of Mark Dwyer brings to 45 the number of murders or "violent deaths" so far this year.
The gang which killed Dwyer (23), found him at his girlfriend's flat in Foster Terrace, Ballybough in Dublin at about 1 a.m. on Friday night.
Dwyer and a friend, a man aged 22 were taken to the grounds of a private estate at Scribblestown Lane near Finglas. Both were beaten and Dwyer was shot dead, with one bullet to the head.
Although an associate of the major drug dealer shot dead a week ago, P.J. Judge, Dwyer was not considered a significant figure in the illicit drug business. He had not come to the attention of any of the groups of anti-drug activists who have compiled lists of dealers in their areas, and although he had a conviction for assault, he had none for drug dealing.
A few hours after the killing, an anonymous caller to the Garda's 999 communications centre described the location and said if gardai went to the field they would find the bodies of two drug dealers there.
There was no mention of the IRA during the call and the caller gave no paramilitary codeword.
Dwyer's body was found by gardai at 7 a.m. His friend, who was lying nearby, was taken to Blanchardstown Hospital.
The 45 murders or "violent deaths" this year compare to 53 last year and 32 in 1994. Since August 1994, when "the General", Martin Cahill, was shot dead, there have been 15 "gangland" murders in Dublin.
Dwyer may have been killed for his involvement in another murder - that of Dublin man William Corbally - by a gang which felt safer about taking action against him after Judge had been killed.
Corbally, a minor figure in the criminal underworld, is believed to have been murdered by Dwyer and Judge.
Less than two weeks ago the Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, said the force was making significant progress in relation to unsolved "gangland" murders. Since then, there have been two such murders in the city, and a shooting in which a woman was injured.
1. Martin Cahill (45): The man known as "The General" was shot in his van by an unmasked man in Ranelagh on an August afternoon as he made a trip to a video store.
2. Patrick Shanahan (46): Shot outside his fitness club in Drimnagh in October 1994. His killer shot him in the head with a handgun as he walked to his car.
3. David Weafer (31): Found shot dead at his home in Finglas in June 1995.
4. Francis Preston (30): Shot dead in his car as he reversed out of his drive way in Baldoyle in June 1995. His killer rode a bicycle.
5. Gerard Connolly (29): Killed when he answered the doorbell at his house in Ballyfermot in August 1995. A gunman fired twice through the glass-panelled door hitting Connolly in the chest with both bullets.
6. Eric Shorthall (23): Shot by the pillion passenger on a motorcycle in November 1995 while out walking with his girlfriend in Ballyfermot, near where Connolly was killed. The gunman shot him in the hip and then dismounted to shoot him again twice.
7. Eddie McCabe (30) and Catherine Brennan (28): Both were shot dead in the early hours in November 1995 returning from a petrol station in Tallaght. McCabe was shot after he appeared to get out of the car and Brennan was killed in the passenger seat.
8. Christopher Delaney (46): Died after he was shot at the back door of his Finglas home shortly after the McCabe and Brennan murders.
9. Gerry Lee (31): At his birthday party in a house in Coolock last March Lee was shot twice by a man who called to the door and asked for him.
10. John Reddan (40s): Reddan was shot in the Blue Lion pub in Parnell Street by a man wearing a motorcycle helmet.
11.John Kelly (34): Shot dead as he watched television at a house in Clondalkin in April.
12. Veronica Guerin (34): Veronica Guerin was stopped in her car at traffic lights on the Naas Road in June. Two men drew up beside her on a motorcycle and the pillion passenger shot her several times.
13. Michael Brady: Shot dead last September by the pillion passenger of a motorbike as he drove into the car park of an inner-city apartment complex.
14. Peter Judge (41): Nicknamed "The Psycho", Judge had been blamed for at least two gangland killings. He was shot eight days ago as he sat in his car at the Royal Oak pub on Finglas Road.
15. Mark Dwyer (23): He was abducted from a flat in Ballybough along with another man. He was shot in the head and his body was found in a field in Finglas on Saturday. The other man was found beaten, but alive.