GARDAI are hunting members of a south Dublin criminal gang who are believed to have killed Mr Thomas Nevin, the proprietor of Jack White's pub in Arklow, during a raid in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Mr Nevin's car, which was stolen by the killers, was being examined in Dublin last night after it was found abandoned in Dartmouth Square, off Leeson Street, at 5 p.m. It had been there since early morning.
Mr Nevin (55), was shot in the back at close range with a shotgun and died on the floor of the kitchen in his home. He had been doing accounts.
His widow, Catherine, who was tied to her bed during the robbery, was being comforted by family and friends yesterday.
The gang forced Mr Nevin to open a floor safe and stole an unknown amount of cash. They also stole jewellery from Mrs Nevin's bedroom, leaving her tied up. She set off an alarm linked to Arklow Garda Station after struggling free.
The Nevins have run Jack White's pub, on the main Dublin to Wexford road, north of Arklow, for about 10 years.
The Garda South Eastern Regional Commander, Assistant Commissioner Jim McHugh, confirmed yesterday there had not been a forced entry at the pub. Mr Nevin either let the raiders in or they hid in a back room after closing time, it is believed. The pub is popular in the Brittas area and was busy over the holiday weekend.
There was also an attempted robbery early yesterday morning at the European Golf Club, at Brittas Bay, about two miles from Mr Nevin's pub. The telephone wires were cut but there was no cash or drink on the premises and nothing was stolen.
The raid on the pub follows a series of armed robberies by Dublin criminal gangs in rural areas close to the city. In recent years, a number of Wicklow business families have been held hostage and robbed in their homes.