Gardaí are planning to extradite a leading Limerick criminal from the UK who they believe ordered and paid for the 2002 murder of security man Brian Fitzgerald, The Irish Times has learned. Conor Lally reports
Mr Fitzgerald (34), a father of two, was gunned down after he refused to allow a drugs gang to deal in the Limerick nightclub where he worked.
Garda informer James Cahill (30) has named the Limerick criminal whose extradition is now being sought as being at a meeting in the city in late 2002 at which Mr Fitzgerald's murder was organised.
Cahill, a Birmingham man, has told gardaí the man directed the meeting, and that Mr Fitzgerald was shot dead at his request.
Cahill is serving life for Mr Fitzgerald's murder, and has been supplying information to gardaí on the Limerick drugs gang who paid him for the killing.
The leading figure now being sought by gardaí is in custody in London in relation to matters not linked to the Fitzgerald murder. Gardaí believe he can be detained there until his extradition is approved by a British court.
The extradition application is expected to be made shortly. The gardaí are preparing the case they will present to the UK authorities to convince them that the extradition should go ahead.
The man whose extradition is sought was the leader of the gang that Mr Fitzgerald refused access to Doc's nightclub where he was head of security.
While Cahill has confessed to being the man who shot Mr Fitzgerald, gardaí believe others played a major part in the murder and they are anxious that these people be put on trial. The gang that killed Mr Fitzgerald had previously threatened his life and a shot was fired through his window in December 2001.
The man whose extradition is sought was previously charged in relation to the 2001 threat but the matter never went to trial.
Mr Fitzgerald was shot dead outside his home at Corbally, Limerick, while returning home from work.
His wife, Alice Fitzgerald, witnessed the murder after she heard shots being fired outside her home. The couple's children were six years and 15 months at the time.
The man now being sought is a cousin of well-known Limerick criminals who have been involved in a feud in the city. They are serving lengthy sentences for very serious crimes.
Cahill, who has lived in Limerick and Clare since the late 1990s, last May requested a meeting with gardaí at Portlaoise Prison, where he was being held at the time. He agreed to give information about the murder and has since made a number of statements.