NO ONE had a bad word to say about him. To his friends, neighbours and local shopkeepers, Diarmuid O'Neill was a "polite, outgoing and helpful gentle giant".

They were all shocked to learn of his death last Monday, when police shot him on the doorstep of a guesthouse in Hammersmith, west London, during an early morning raid.

"Diarmuid was a big guy - 6 ft 3 ins - but skinny. I would describe him as a shy and gentle giant. The idea that he was capable of being a `sleeper' for the IRA just seems completely daft," said one neighbour.

A local shopkeeper, Mrs Tina Cuenco who saw him the night before he died, remembered him as a "chocoholic" who read the Daily Mail and the Guardian. "That night he was unshaven and looked all done in. I assumed that he had been working too hard - I knew he had been decorating."

Scotland Yard refused to confirm reports that Mr O'Neill was unarmed. Police sources say all officers involved in the raid were warned their suspects could be armed and dangerous.

It is understood he was shot at least six times Attempts to revive him by emergency medical services failed and he was pronounced dead at 5.25 a.m., whether at the scene or at nearby Charing Cross Hospital is still unclear. The circumstances of his death are being investigated by the Police Complaints Authority.

Five other suspects were arrested in the raid and are being questioned.

The items seized in the operation include 10 tonnes of explosives; 2 lb of Semtex; two booby trap bombs for affixing to cars; 13 timer power units; three Kalashnikov rifles; two handguns with ammunition and several vehicles.

So what made Diarmuid O'Neill, who was born in London to Irish parents, with his English accent and friendly manner become a would be IRA bomber?

He was born at a Hammersmith hospital in June, 1969. He was the first child of Eoghan O'Neill who is from Co Clare, and his wife, Theresa, from Dublin. As a child - he lived with his brother, Shane, who is four years younger, and his sister, Siobhan, who is a nurse in London, in St Dunstan's Road, Fulham. The family took regular holidays in Cork.

Diarmuid was regarded as a model pupil at his school, the London Oratory, in Knightsbridge. The Labour leader, Mr Tony Blair and the Shadow Social Security spokeswoman, Ms Harriet Harman, caused a political row by choosing to send their children to the school. Diarmuid spent six years there, leaving at the age of 17.

A former teacher said he had an "impeccable disciplinary record" at the school. He remembered him as cheerful, outgoing and from a good family.

During his teenage years, Mr O'Neill began selling An Phoblacht in Irish pubs around London. His activities were soon noted by the security services. A former school friend took a photograph of him posing with the newspaper's "salute" to Bobby Sands - a picture which the friend has now sold to the British tabloids.

After training as a cabinet maker, he joined the Shepherd's Bush branch of the Bank of Ireland as a clerk. In June, 1989, he was convicted of three counts of stealing £75,000 sterling from the bank. At his trial, police said £34,000 sterling of the money had been channelled to the IRA via a Belfast bank account.

He was sentenced to 12 months detention at a younger offenders' institution and served five.

Several former inmates have recalled that Diarmuid was known as "Paddy" and kept in touch with them after he had finished his sentence.

O'Neill's death was recorded in Egin, a Basque newspaper with close links to ETA, the Basque terronst group. A notice in the paper on Thursday stated: "Ginger killed by English Police London, September 23. We will never forget you. Friends from Amorebieta."

Amorebieta is a Basque village near Bilbao, which O'Neill had periodically visited with his Basque girlfriend, Karmele Ereno (27). He met her in London, where she was working as a waitress. Basque sources said yesterday that she was not known to be prominent in any organisation there.