A ROW over the activities of anti-drug vigilantes may have led to the murder of Mr Tim Rattigan, who was shot in Dublin on Saturday afternoon.
Mr Rattigan intervened when vigilantes beat a young man who they suspected of dealing in drugs. He became embroiled in a dispute with the vigilantes and may have been targeted as a result.
However, gardai are also examining a number of other incidents in Mr Rattigan's recent past, including a row between him and another man over a poker debt.
Mr Rattigan played poker for relatively high stakes - up to Pounds 150 a game - and had a blazing row in recent weeks with the man over a debt.
Gardai stressed yesterday that they are following a number of lines of inquiry in the murder investigation.
They also said Mr Rattigan was not considered to have moved in criminal circles, and his convictions for minor offences were many years ago.
Yesterday, gardai interviewed people in shops and businesses in James's Street, where the shooting took place at 2.45 p.m. on Saturday.
Mr Rattigan had been drinking at the Gate Inn pub and went next door into Jack Gamble's bookmakers. As he was filling in betting slips, a man walked into the shop and shot him in the back of the head. The man escaped on a motorbike driven by an accomplice, which was later found abandoned in nearby Pimlico.
Mr Rattigan was placed on a life-support machine at St James Hospital but died on Sunday afternoon.
Gardai renewed their appeal to the public yesterday for help in finding the killers. The gunman, who was unmasked, had short brown hair and was 5'9"or 5'l0" in height. He wore light blue jeans and a blue or red check top - gardai are not clear whether it was a shirt or jacket.
The driver of the motorbike wore a blue leather motorbike suit.