Gardai in west Dublin are investigating two incidents in which armed and masked men were involved in holding people captive, shooting one man and injuring two other people.
The first incident began about 8 p.m. on Sunday when three men wearing balaclavas overpowered a man outside a public house in Harold's Cross, bundled him into his car and made him drive them to his house in Riversdale Drive, Clondalkin.
There they threatened the man and shot him twice before leaving the house on foot. The gunmen then hijacked a car, which they abandoned a short while later in Kylemore Road, where they stole another car.
After he was shot, the man made his way to a neighbour's house and they called an ambulance and the gardai.
The man was being treated in Tallaght Hospital yesterday. His condition is not serious.
Gardai believe the gunmen intended stealing money from the victim.
The man was named earlier this year in a court case in which it was stated he was earning £5,000 a week from two brothels he owned in Dublin.
In August he was served with a tax ruling for £1.75 million by the Criminal Assets Bureau. At about 9.30 p.m. on Sunday, two men, also wearing balaclavas, forced their way into a house at Wheatfield Grove, Clondalkin, and forced a teenage boy and girl who were watching television in the living-room to lie on the floor.
One of the men was carrying a handgun.
The men pushed cushions over the heads of the two young people, threatening to shoot them. One of them then beat both about the head and body with a poker or iron bar.
As they left, the gunman fired a number of shots into the livingroom.
One bullet hit the television.
The youth, who received the worst beating, was taken to Tallaght Hospital. Gardai were yesterday still trying to establish a motive for this attack.
The family was described by gardai as "absolutely innocent, law-abiding people".
One of the men shouted a man's name, which has no connection with the family, and it is suspected the attack was a case of mistaken identity.
One theory being investigated was that this attack might have been the work of republicans.
Gardai said that despite the time coincidence and the fact that armed men wearing balaclavas were involved, the two incidents were unconnected.