Man dies after Dublin gangland shooting

A man was shot dead in the north Dublin suburb of Finglas last night.

It was the second fatal shooting in the capital in less than 12 hours.

The man (33)  was shot at around 12.20am outside a house in Kippure Park. It is believed he was hit by at least four bullets from a handgun in the neck and chest.

It is believed the gunman fled the scene on a bicycle.

The victim was taken to James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown, where he later died.

The scene was sealed off by gardaí for forensic examination. There were no arrests.

The dead man was named locally as Trevor Walsh, from the Tolka Valley Park in Finglas. He was jailed for three years in February 2007 for possession of ammunition. He had recently been released from prison and had nearly 50 convictions for various offences.

Superintendent John Quirke, who is heading up the Finglas murder investigation said there was no clear motive for the killing.  "It's far too early to make any guesses or suppositions in relation to that," he said. 

Gardaí have not established if the Finglas killing was linked to the murder of Anthony Foster (34), who was shot dead at a flats complex in Coolock yesterday.

Gardaí were alerted to the shooting at the Cromcastle Court flats complex yesterday afternoon and discovered Mr Foster's body on the balcony of the top floor of one of the blocks of flats.

Mr Foster was jailed for six years in 2001 for handling cannabis resin worth £30,000 in April 2000. He was working at that time with drug addicts at the Merchant's Quay rehabilitation project in Dublin.

Fine Gael's justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan today called for "non-stop monitoring" of gangland criminals and mandatory 25 year sentences for those convicted of murder.

"These two murders, back to back, show that gangland members still have the ability to target and assassinate their victims with relative ease," Mr Flanagan said. "Gardaí need the resources to conduct 24 hour surveillance of key gangland figures in order to drive them out of business.

"Fine Gael is also calling for a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years to send out a clear message that murder will be punished. Too many murderers are spending just 12 years in jail," Mr Flanagan added.