A man was charged today with withholding information about the murder of a suspected drug dealer and heroin addict.
Damien Murphy (25), from Knockmore Grove, Tallaght, is the first person to appear in court in connection with the death of Kenneth Byrne.
He was shot twice by a gunman at the St Theresa's Gardens flats complex in Dolphin's Barn in Dublin on February 1st last year.
At Kilmainham District Court, Mr Murphy was charged with withholding information in relation to the murder, contrary to Section 4 of the Offences Against the State Amendment Act 1998.
He was also charged with making a false statement to gardaí on February 2nd last year, contrary to Section 12A of the Criminal Law Act 1996.
Judge William Hamill laid down requirements for a €5,000 cash lodgement or independent surety for bail to be granted. Mr Murphy's solicitor said he might take up bail at a later stage.
Judge Hamill remanded Murphy in custody and ordered him to appear at Clover Hill Court on April 7th.
Kenneth Byrne (30) had been released from prison just under two weeks before he was murdered.
He had served less than four years of a 10-year sentence for his part in a series of armed robberies in 1998, involving €90,000.
He was also a member of a group of thieves, known as the Umbrella Gang because of their tactic of hiding their faces from security cameras during robberies in the 1990s by using umbrellas. On the night of his death, he came to his door when he heard a knock but did not open it.
A gunman wearing a motorcycle helmet shot him twice through the glass panel in the door and fled on a motorbike.
Gardaí recovered the gun less than a mile away and the bike was later found abandoned on St Vincent's Road. The Garda investigation into Byrne's murder is continuing.