The murder of a father of three in Cork has raised fears of a new drugs war in the city, according to senior Garda sources. Mr Kieran O'Flynn (34) was shot in the chest and throat at the front door of his end-of-terrace house on the north side of Cork city at 11.15 p.m. on Thursday.
The killing occurred at the usually quiet Thorndale Estate, Dublin Hill. It appears that Mr O'Flynn's killer had called earlier to the house and asked if he was in.
When an eight-year-old girl said her father had gone out, the killer left but returned later, wearing a balaclava helmet and shot him at point blank range through the front-door glass as he attempted to open the door.
Yesterday, the house was sealed off by gardai from the technical bureau in Dublin. A post-mortem was carried out by the State Pathologist, Prof John Harbison. Mr O'Flynn was well known to gardai in Cork and was a member of a family which has been investigated many times in connection with drug trafficking activities.
His brother-in-law, Michael Crinnion, was shot dead in 1995 outside a public house on the south side of the city. Following the killing an RTE cameraman, Mr Brian O'Mahony, who was covering the funeral, was seriously injured when he was set upon by a number of men including Mr Donal O'Flynn, a brother of the victim. Donal O'Flynn was jailed for 26 months for his part in the attack.
Another brother, Mr Seanie O'Flynn, has served prison sentences in Holland and Spain for drug trafficking. Garda sources in Cork say it may take some time to unravel the precise motives for the killing but they are convinced it is linked to some kind of drugs turf war.
The O'Flynn family, while prominent in drug trafficking over the years, is one of a number of criminal families in Cork believed to be responsible for the importation and sale of large consignments of drugs each year.
In 1994, Kieran O'Flynn was arrested by gardai at Hop Island in Cork Harbour when he tried to bring drugs ashore in a dinghy. The arrest followed a high-speed chase.
It is believed the gunman fired at least four shots in all. The first two shots were fired as the door was being opened and the second two appeared to have been discharged when the gunman stepped into the hallway.
Mr O'Flynn was pronounced dead on arrival at Cork's Mercy Hospital.