A Dublin youth who died yesterday from a gunshot wound to the head is believed to have been killed in retaliation for the murder of another local man.
Joseph Rattigan (18), from Drimnagh, was shot as he walked along Cooley Road, Crumlin, in the early hours of Tuesday morning. So far no witnesses have come forward.
Mr Rattigan was shot at close range with a handgun. He never recovered consciousness and died yesterday in the intensive care unit of St James's Hospital.
He was a low-level criminal figure who had been involved in drug dealing.
Mr Rattigan was suspected of involvement in the murder of Declan Gavin (20), who was stabbed to death as he walked along Crumlin Road last September. That killing is believed to have arisen from a row between rival drug gangs.
The same dispute led to other attempted murders, shootings and fights, including a spate of incidents last November in which violence spilled over from a public house fight into a number of drive-by shootings in the Crumlin/Drimnagh area.
At least one previous attempt had been made to kill Mr Rattigan. Last March three men broke into his home with the intention of shooting him. He escaped by jumping through a bedroom window. The gunmen shot and seriously injured his 19-year-old brother, who is still suffering from his injuries.
Gardaí report that gang-related violence in west Dublin has reached its highest levels since the mid-1990s.