A man was shot dead by a gunman wearing a balaclava in a Dublin city-centre public house last night. The victim, Mr Anthony Beatty (35), had been drinking in an upstairs lounge of the Wild Heather pub in Mary Street at around 8.40 p.m. when he was shot by a lone gunman a number of times in the chest. He staggered downstairs and collapsed at the entrance to the premises.
The dead man is believed to have been a known Dublin criminal.
A barman was said by a senior Garda source to have thrown a stool at the gunman after the shooting, knocking the gun out of his hand. Garda superintendent Michael McCarthy confirmed last night that a gun was found at the scene. "No words were exchanged," he said. The gunman escaped on foot. The scene was being preserved last night. Gardai questioned a number of people who had been drinking in the pub.
Supt McCarthy appealed for people who had been in the pub or in the area between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. to come forward. A bundle of coats lay outside the door of the pub late last night. There was a pool of blood on the footpath.
Mr Beatty was pronounced dead on the way to the Mater Hospital, according to a Garda spokesman. The Garda helicopter was called to the scene.
Regulars at the pub, where a karaoke night was due to start, said they believed there were closed-circuit television cameras in operation at the premises. However, a closed-circuit camera on the corner of Mary Street and Capel Street was pointing away from the scene of the murder.
Local people said that the pub was extremely well run. It is popular with street traders who operate in the area.
The last gangland-type murder in Dublin was on June 28th when Mr Tim Rattigan was shot in the head at close range by an unmasked gunman as he placed a bet in a bookmaker's shop on James's Street.