Dublin's gangsters have got the killing habit

TWO years ago, after Martin Cahill was ambushed and shot dead by a Provisional IRA gunman near his home in Ranelagh, Dublin detectives accurately predicted three things: that organised crime in Dublin would restructure itself, that there would be "turf wars" between the emerging crime bosses and that there would be an increase in violence.

Cahill was a clever, violent figure with unchallenged authority, at least south of the Liffey. A burgeoning young criminal gang led by the man nicknamed "The Monk" controlled the north inner city; and two brothers based in Ballyfermot held sway in the western suburbs.

When Cahill was killed and his gang disintegrated - several of his lieutenants were already in prison - detectives pointed to a number of figures who were emerging in the Dublin crime world.

One was the man suspected of ordering the murder of Veronica Guerin. He had just been released from prison having served four years for armed robbery.

Although not previously a major criminal - one of his main sources of income involved falsifying weighbridge receipts for scrap metal - he was quickly earning a reputation for violence against opponents.

He was also acquiring weapons along with the drugs he was importing from the Continent. Other gangs, too, began to acquire guns, usually high powered handguns.

Around the time of the Cahill murder, the Garda recovered five handguns, including the latest version of the powerful Glock 9mm and a Heckler and Koch sub machinegun, the weapon of preference for special forces like the SAS and Army Ranger Wing.

It was an ominous signal about the direction being taken by Dublin's organised criminals. Since Cahill's death there have been 12 more murders in Dublin which are broadly described as "gangland" assassinations.

Three of these - the murders of Eddie McCabe (30) and a woman friend, Catherine Brennan (28), who were shot dead in Tallaght last November; and of Gerry Lee (31), who was shot dead at a party in Coolock last March - can be categorised as purely personal affairs arising from spur of the moment arguments. The other 10, however, can be categorised as criminal "business".

Six of the victims were ambushed as they left home or work, while the other four were "doorstep" killings, where the assassins called to the victims' homes.

Four of the murders involved gunmen travelling on motorcycles and killing of the victim either on the street, in a car or while sitting in a pub.

The similarity in the style of the shootings is testimony of a sort that there is a "professional" style to gangland killings in Dublin.

The fact that the Garda has achieved no successful prosecutions in any of the 13 killings also suggests that the criminals responsible are well acquainted with the laws of evidence and how to avoid prosecution.

Detectives in Dublin yesterday conceded that they had no reason to believe there would be a decline in the number of gangland killings in the city, no matter what new laws or police squads were put in place. Officers said the criminals who have sprung up in Cahill's wake all readily resort to assassination.

Dublin's criminals, one officer said, have now acquired the killing habit.