GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING the murder of a man by an armed gang at his home believe he was a member of the Continuity IRA and are trying to establish if he was gunned down by rival dissident republicans or a drugs gang.
Liam Kenny, a 53-year-old father of four, was shot dead just after 4am yesterday at his home on Shancastle Avenue, Clondalkin, west Dublin .
A gang of armed and masked men called to the house and tried to break down the hall door with a sledgehammer. Mr Kenny had been out in a pub yesterday evening celebrating his birthday and was awake downstairs when the gang tried to break in.
When they were unable to break the door down, one of the men discharged shots from a handgun through the door into the hall, where Mr Kenny was standing. He was wounded several times in the upper body, with at least three shots hitting his lungs and heart.
His attackers fled in a 2010, Dublin-registered, silver-coloured Nissan Qashqai. The car, stolen in Dublin in the past week, was later found burned out at the Steeples, Chapelizod.
Mr Kenny was taken to Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
Garda sources said a number of members of Mr Kenny’s family were in the house at the time of the attack but were uninjured.
Gardaí have appealed for anyone who saw the attackers’ car at the murder scene, nearby or at Chapelizod to contact the investigating team in Ronanstown Garda station.
Mr Kenny did not have a significant criminal record. However, he was a member of both Republican Sinn Féin and the Continuity IRA, gardaí believe.
They are trying to establish what role, if any, his membership of the Continuity IRA had in his death. It is understood the grouping had recently clashed with drug dealers from Clondalkin and that Mr Kenny had been threatened by that gang.
However, gardaí are also investigating whether Mr Kenny may have been shot by fellow members of the Continuity IRA or by members of the Real IRA.
Gardaí are exploring whether Mr Kenny’s killing is linked to efforts by a north Dublin Real IRA cell to control the provision of security to some Dublin pubs, clubs and other businesses. Mr Kenny worked in the security sector and had a contract to protect an apartment block near his home.
The north Dublin Real IRA cell has killed at least two men in the past 18 months and has tried to kill at least five others in shootings.
Some sources said Mr Kenny and other men had been involved in what amounted to a split in the Continuity IRA about 12 months ago. Gardaí are examining whether that split is linked to yesterday’s murder.
The killing is the third fatal shooting in the capital in the past three weeks, following a significant lull in such attacks earlier this year. Michael Taylor (53) from Summerhill in Dublin’s north inner city was shot dead at a mobile home park in Donabate, north Co Dublin, on Tuesday evening as part of a personal feud.
On May 25th, Dean Johnson (20) was shot dead as he sat in a car near his family home on Moorefield Avenue, Clondalkin. He was a convicted drug dealer and gardaí believe his killing was drug-related.