GARDAÍ HAVE launched two murder investigations after separate gun attacks in Dublin claimed the lives of two men and left two others critically wounded.
The shootings bring to 10 the number of men wounded, four of them fatally, in gun attacks in the capital in the past two weeks.
The latest incident took place in Coldwinters, near Finglas when a well-known gangland figure was shot in the head at around 5.15pm.
Graham McNally (34), Cappagh Avenue, Finglas, was a member of a major Finglas drug gang once led by murdered drug dealer Martin “Marlo” Hyland.
Gardaí have not ruled out the possibility that McNally was killed by his own gang after they lured him to Coldwinters. Detectives in Finglas believe they foiled an attempt on his life, and that of his gang leader, last Thursday when they stopped two men in car with a loaded pump action shotgun.
McNally was jailed for a year in 2001 after he attacked three gardaí, biting them and trying to strangle one garda. He was suspected of involvement on the periphery of the shooting dead last August of Paul “Farmer” Martin in a pub in Finglas.
He was also a suspect for a number of non-fatal gun attacks and had become embroiled in the past in localised feuds with several criminal factions in Finglas.
In an unrelated gun attack in west Dublin just before midnight on Monday, three men were shot, one of them fatally, as they sat in a car in the driveway of a house in Kilmartin Drive, Tallaght.
Two men, both believed to have been armed with 9mm handguns, walked up to the car and fired a volley of rounds into it. The dead man, Stephen O’Halloran, was shot in the head as he sat in the driver’s seat of the car outside his mother and stepfather’s home.
The other two men tried to run from the gunmen but as they fled they were shot in the upper body. Neighbours took them into their homes and tried to attend to their wounds before an ambulance arrived. They are critically ill in Tallaght hospital.
A garda patrol car in the area heard the gunfire and sped to the scene within one minute of the attack. However, the gunmen narrowly escape by running into Kilmartin Park and onto Kilmartin Gardens before fleeing in the direction of Fettercairn Road.
Gardaí believe they were most likely driven by an accomplice from Fettercairn Road or Cheeverstown Road. A burnt-out car was found in Tallaght yesterday that gardaí believe may have been used by the killers.
The dead man’s body remained at the scene overnight. The remains were examined by Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis at lunchtime before being removed for a full postmortem.
Gardaí believe O’Halloran, a 20-year-old father of one, was the gunmens’ target. He was a drug user and was well-known to gardaí. He had appeared before the courts on charges linked to assault, the theft of a car, burglary and possession of a knife.
He was due up in court on Friday to face 11 road traffic charges. He was regularly involved in assaults and last June beat a man from the Kilmartin estate so badly that the victim is still receiving rehabilitative care.
The Irish Times understands O’Halloran had been warned by local criminals that they were going to shoot him. Gardaí believe his murder is most likely linked to a personal row rather than to the drug trade.
Gardaí want to speak to anyone who may have seen the car O’Halloran was shot in at any time on Monday. It is a green Renault Classic Megane, registration number 97 D 43440.
The two gunmen were both wearing hoods for at least some of the attack. One was described as being in his early 20s, around 6ft in height, of slim build and with blonde hair. He was wearing a red or orange hooded top.
The other attacker was also described as being around 6ft and of thin build. He was wearing white tracksuit bottoms with a stripe down the leg and also wore a hooded top.
Anyone who may have seen the men at the scene or running or being driven from the area is asked to contact gardaí in Tallaght on (01) 666 6056.