A rival drug-dealer from Blanchardstown in Dublin is believed responsible for the murder of Paschal Boland (43), who was shot dead at his Co Dublin home.
Boland is understood to have been involved in a dispute recently with the drugdealer over the supply of cannabis in Blanchardstown. Gardai suspect the other man, who was himself the victim of a drug-related shooting, was seeking to prevent Boland from spreading his drug supply network.
An assailant shot Boland as he arrived in his car at his home in Ashcroft Court, Mulhuddart, at around 9 p.m. on Wednesday. He was taken to James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown but was declared dead an hour later.
The murder is the second fatal gang-related shooting in north Dublin in three weeks and gardai suspect the lull in gang-related violence in Dublin that followed the Veronica Guerin murder may now be ending.
According to detective sources in north and west Dublin, "turf wars" (disputes over drugs supply areas) are beginning to break out again in increasing numbers, and there is a growing tendency for dealers to threaten each other with firearms.
There are also signs of increasing use of guns in drug-related disputes in the city. There have been at least 30 shootings in Dublin in the past year and Boland is the fourth person to be killed in a drugs-related murder since last June.
The first of these was Sinead Kelly, a 21-year-old heroin addict and prostitute, who was stabbed to death on the banks of the Grand Canal in June last year.
On November 21st last Gerard Moran, a man with a record of assault and other violent crime, was shot dead as he delivered take-away food in Drumcondra in north Dublin.
There are suspicions Moran might have been shot dead by IRA figures in the north inner city as he had disputes with republicans involved in anti-drugs activities.
Three weeks ago, John Dillon, who acted as a getaway driver for armed robbers, was shot dead in Finglas by a member of a criminal family. The three killings, along with other attempted murders and shootings, reflect a reverse of the trend since 1996.
The last previous organised crime-related murder in Dublin before Sinead Kelly's was that of Eamon O'Reilly, who was shot dead in a dispute in the Tower Inn, Finglas, in January 1998.
This contrasts with the situation before Ms Guerin's murder in June 1996. In the five months before her death there were three gang-related murders in the city. In 1995 there were seven gang-related killings.