WHAT A BLOODY WEEK
GUNMEN RIDDLE PAIR WITH BULLETS IN GANG ATTACK gardai question suspects as victim left fighting for his life
IRELAND is reeling from one of the bloodiest weeks in recent history – as the Government goes door to door for votes.
Shootings, stabbings and the savage slaying and dismemberment of a boy have rocked the country.
Two men were riddled with gunfire as they sat in a car in North Dublin at noon yesterday. At the same time Taoiseach
Leo Varadkar was visiting Drogheda Garda station following the butchering of 17-year-old Keane Mulready-woods.
A student was stabbed to death at a house party in Cork on Thursday. And an innocent taxi driver was shot in Drogheda, Co Louth, on Monday.
The Taoiseach said: “I really want to say to people across the country that crime doesn’t pay, that we will get these people behind bars.”
A NOTORIOUS drug dealer is suspected of a double murder bid that left one man fighting for his life and a second seriously injured.
The convicted mobster was arrested fleeing the scene of a burning getaway car minutes after yesterday’s horrific gangland-style shooting.
A second suspect was also detained nearby. Both were being questioned by gardai last night.
One victim of the attack in the Swords area of North Co Dublin was struck in the head and body by up to five bullets.
The shooting happened in broad daylight inside a commercial yard at around noon. Two balaclava-clad men tracked the victims as they drove into the premises on Killeek Lane in the St Margaret’s area close to Dublin Airport.
They opened fire at the pair as they sat in the front of a blue Mercedes.
The driver was hit up to five times and was in a critical condition after being rushed to hospital.
The man in the passenger seat was shot twice in the back but was conscious when taken into an ambulance.
The men, both believed to be in their 30s, were rushed to Beaumont and James Connolly Memorial hospitals.
A number of people were working in nearby businesses as the shots rang out. The hit team fled the park at high speed in a black Citroen C5 and drove in the direction of Coolock. A car suspected of being linked to the attack was found ablaze at Greencastle Avenue off the main Malahide Road shortly afterwards.
Gardai were on the scene within minutes and two suspects were arrested.
They were being quizzed last night and can be held for three days.
The chief suspect is known to gardai as a volatile, cocaine-fuelled thug. He has links to various criminal factions in the Coolock area including those involved in a feud that has left five men dead. Sources said he has a fearsome reputation for demanding and extorting cash from innocent victims.
He also survived an attempt on his life last year when he hid in a toilet to avoid a hitman’s bullet.
The sources added he has been carving out his drug turf while rivals were being murdered or arrested in the city’s mob feuds.
MOTIVE
The park where the shooting took place houses several businesses including transport and haulage firms.
Gardai are trying to establish a motive and are searching for the gun used in the attack.
Sources do not believe yesterday’s bloodshed is related to the Drogheda
feud. However, gardai will probe whether the suspects hoped to carry out a double murder in the belief resources were spread thin in the hunt for the killers of 17-year-old Keane Mulready-woods.
Killeek Lane is a quiet road dotted with bungalows.
Residents of the area were shocked as dozens of Garda vehicles flocked into the area within minutes of the shooting.
One alarmed local expressed concern and said: “You just don’t know what’s going to happen anywhere after everything we have heard and seen this week.
It’s worrying when it’s so close to you.”
A Garda spokesman added: “Gardai are investigating a shooting incident that occurred at approximately 11.30am at Killeek Lane, St Margaret’s, Swords, Co Dublin.
“Two males received treatment at the scene before being transferred to Beaumount and Connolly Memorial Hospital.
“Two males have been arrested under the Section 30 Offences Against The State Act 1939.”
You just don’t know what’s going to happen anywhere
LOCAL RESIDENT ST MARGARET’S YESTERDAY