Man recovering from knee-capping

A man is recovering in hospital after he was knee-capped in a punishment-style attack in the early hours of this morning. The shooting occurred in west Dublin and gardaí believe it is linked to the activities of the Real IRA in the city.

The injured man sustained a gunshot wound to his right knee at Le Fanu Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin, at about 12.10am. Gardaí believe he was attacked by a number of men and that he may have been shot in a vehicle that then left area.

He was taken by ambulance to St James’s Hospital, where his injuries are said not to be life-threatening. In his 30s and from Dublin city centre, he has been spoken to by gardaí about the shooting but has thus far been unable to indentify his attackers.

The victim is known to gardaí and is a suspected member of the Real IRA. He has been arrested in the past for activities linked to the paramilitary group.

In recent years he was one of a number of men questioned about the shooting dead of a drug dealer in north Dublin but was released without charge. That killing was believed linked to ongoing feuding in the capital between the Real IRA and criminal gangs that has arisen because of extortion demands from the dissidents on drugs gangs.

The knee-capping victim, who is currently facing criminal charges and is on bail, is close to members of the Real IRA based around the northern suburbs of Dublin. He was well-known to key Real IRA member Alan Ryan who was shot dead on the street in Donaghmede, north Dublin, in September.

Gardaí are now trying to establish whether the man shot this morning was targeted by Real IRA members known to him, or criminal elements the Real IRA has been feuding with. However, the attack has all the hallmarks of an attack carried out by republican groups.

Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident, gardaí are investigating a shooting that occurred in Coolock, north Dublin, on Friday night.

Shots were fired at the front door of a house at Templeview in the Clare Hall estate. Gardaí believe the attack was part of an ongoing feud between two extended Traveller families. Nobody was injured in the incident.

Detectives believe the feud involves associates of two brothers who have been shot dead in gangland feuding in the area.

In January 2010 the remains of JP Joyce (30), Grove Lane, Malahide Road, Coolock were found dumped in a ditch near Dublin Airport. He had been shot in the head. Tommie Joyce (20) was shot dead in June 2009 outside his home on the Grove Lane halting site.