Halting site gun victim is expected to survive attack

A MAN shot six times at a halting site in Co. Louth yesterday is expected to pull through, sources say.

Eoin Maguire, 34, of Cement Road halting site in Dell, Drogheda, Co. Louth, was shot six times in the incident shortly after midnight.

The victim was standing in the yard of the site where he lives when he was targeted by a lone gunman, it has emerged. Mr Maguire was shot in the stomach and shoulder, and also suffered injuries to both his legs, both wrists and his spine in the failed murder attempt.

According to sources, the shooting was the work of a serious organised crime gang and Mr Maguire is extremely lucky to be alive.

Some of the injured man’s associates are closely linked to a major Traveller crime boss, currently behind bars for serious offences, sources told the Irish Daily Mail.

The gang led by this person is believed to be behind the disappearance, and assumed murders, of Traveller Willie Maughan and his girlfriend Ana Varslavane in 2015 in Co. Meath. The couple’s bodies have never been found. The gang are also the chief suspects in the killing of Benny Whitehouse in Balbriggan, Dublin, in September 2014.

Mr Maguire received a six-month suspended sentence in 2015 for affray. However, he does not have major convictions.

He was brought by ambulance to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, where his condition was said to be stable.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Drogheda Garda Station on 041-9874200, or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.