Gardaí in Limerick believe they have found the motorbike used by two gunmen who killed 47-year-old John Ryan, writes Kathryn Hayes in Limerick
The Limerick father-of-seven died after he was shot twice outside a house in the Thomondgate area of the city at 6.30 p.m. on Monday.
Mr Ryan was a brother of murder victim Eddie Ryan - who was shot dead in the Moose Bar in Limerick in November 2000. John Ryan was also an uncle of Kieran and Eddie Ryan Jnr - the two brothers who were allegedly abducted shortly before the murder of Kieran Keane last January.
Mr Ryan's death is believed to be linked to a bloody feud between the Keane and the Ryan families which has seen a massive escalation in violence since the death of Eddie Ryan three and half years ago.
John Ryan had been working on a patio in the front garden of a house in Canon Breen Park, Thomondgate when two men pulled up on a motorbike. At least four shots were fired by the pillion passenger who was armed with a handgun.
Last night gardaí said a motorbike recovered yesterday is almost certainly the one used by the gunmen. The 125cc bike was found in the early hours of yesterday burnt out behind a coal shed in the St Mary's Park area. "The motorbike is still at the scene and is being examined by forensic experts," said a garda source. "We'd be pretty happy that it was the same one that was used by the men responsible for the attack."
Two men in their early 20s arrested shortly after Monday night's murder, were yesterday released without charge.
According to Supt Willie Keane more than 30 officers are currently working on the murder investigation along with members of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation who arrived in Limerick from Dublin yesterday.
"The Garda presence has been increased on the streets and it will be monitored on a day-to-day basis," said Supt Keane who appealed to those involved in the feud to "step back from the brink" and let gardaí continue with their job.
Meanwhile, a daughter of John Ryan, who was with her father after he was shot, yesterday branded his killers as inhuman. "They're scum. They are not even human," said 20-year-old Samantha Ryan.
"I was with him as he was lying on the ground and I went in the ambulance with him. I was talking to him and he was talking to me. I told him 'you'll be alright' and he said he would be grand," she said.
"We've been left here without a father. I'm sick of it. We had to get out of our home because of them." Yesterday, a nephew of John Ryan, "Fat" John McCarthy, said he does not see any end to the feud, which has now claimed three lives.
"All I can say is it's not going to stop. It's going on too long now," said Mr McCarthy, whose own home in Moyross was attacked by two men carrying a Kalashnikov AK 47 assault rifle.
"My own home has been targeted. They nearly killed my child."
According to Mr McCarthy, his uncle knew he was a marked man.
Described by his nephew as "not a man for trouble", John Ryan had recently moved from his home in Lee Estate to Moyross after his house in Lee Estate was attacked more than 30 times.
"He was targeted because he was Eddie's brother," said Mr McCarthy.