O’Driscoll killers may have been ‘brought in’ for Cork murder

Gardaí investigating the murder of former Real IRA chief of staff Aidan O’Driscoll are examining the possibility that his killers may have been brought in from outside of Cork by former associates in the dissident movement.

Detectives investigating the fatal shooting of Mr O’Driscoll (37) on on Wednesday evening believe that while the two killers may have had some local assistance, they may well be not from Cork.

According to one garda source, the fact that they two men did not have their faces fully concealed when attacking O’Driscoll on the Old Commons Road in Blackpool meant they ran the risk of being recognised.

Another Garda source pointed to the fact that the two men ran a risk of getting caught up in rush hour traffic in the warren of small streets in Blackpool where one badly parked car can cause major congestion - a fact someone from Cork would be conscious of.

The fact that the killers were willing to carry out the killing in the run up to Christmas during commercial opening hours when many businesses in Blackpool would still be attracting customers suggests the killers were not familiar with the area, one source said.

However, gardaí concede that the killers must have had some local assistance on their escape, which saw them use a number of cars to go from Seminary Road to Redemption Road and then out to Monard in Killeens.

Burnt out

Gardaí recovered two vehicles which they believed the killers used to make their escape - a Nissan Almera found on Redemption Road and a Vauhall Astra Estate found in Monard - and although both were partially burnt out, gardaí hope they may yield clues regarding the killers.

“We would still be hopeful that the technical people would be able to pick up some DNA material that might help us identify the killers - particularly if they were less than professional in terms of gloves and clothing to stop them leaving any DNA material behind,” a source said.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the remains of O'Driscoll, from Glen Heights in Ballyvolane, may not be released back to his family until next week despite a postmortem being completed at Cork University Hospital on Thursday.

Gardaí will await the results of ballistics tests on three bullets recovered from his body and one recovered from the scene to see whether they were all fired from the same weapon or if two gunmen involved in the killing.

No weapon has yet been recovered but gardaí believe O’Driscoll was shot with a handgun or handguns as he walked along the footpath on the Old Commons Road. He stumbled and collapsed on to the road as he tried to flee after sustaining an initial shot in the back.

O’Driscoll, who was working as a painter and decorator, had just been dropped off from a van by work colleagues at the time and gardaí are investigating whether he may have been followed from Tivoli where he was working.