File for DPP on murder of former Real IRA chief-of-staff

A full file on the murder of former Real IRA chief-of-staff, Aidan O'Driscoll is to be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions, an inquest into Mr O'Driscoll's death was told on Thursday.

Det Insp Declan O'Sullivan told Cork City Coroner's Court he was seeking to have Mr O'Driscoll's inquest adjourned as criminal proceedings were being contemplated by An Garda Siochana.

"A full file will forwarded to the DPP in due course," said Det Insp O'Sullivan as Cork City Coroner, Philip Comyn granted an application to adjourn Mr O'Driscoll's inquest until November 30th.

Mr O'Driscoll, a father-of-two from Glen Heights in Ballyvolane on Cork's northside, was shot dead as he walked home from work along Commons Road in Cork at around 5pm on December 7th last.

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Assistant State Pathologist, Dr Margot Bolster told the inquest her postmortem on Mr O’Driscoll confirmed he died from haemorrhage and shock due to multiple gunshot wounds.

Gardaí have so far arrested six people in relation to the murder of Mr O'Driscoll (37) who was shot four times by two gunmen near Blackpool Church.

Mr O’Driscoll had just been dropped off by a work colleague and was walking along the Commons Road when two men approached him and shot him at close range, wounding him in the pelvis.

He tried to flee across the road but collapsed and was shot another three times and although he was rushed to Cork University Hospital for surgery, he died from his injuries less than two hours later.

Gardaí began a murder investigation and quickly identified a silver grey Nissan Almera found burned out at the junction of Seminary Road and Redemption Road as the getaway car used by the killers.

Gardaí believe the killers met a second car, a white Vauxhaul Astra van driven by another man with possibly another occupant, at the junction of Seminary Road and Redemption Road.

The gang attempted to burn the white Vauxhaul at Monard in Killeens and gardaí believe they then fled in a red Opel Astra which had been seen in the Monard area earlier .

Gardaí later found the red Opel Astra dumped in a ravine near Rylane in North Cork and Garda technical experts carried out a forensic examination of all three cars for evidence.

Gardaí were able to trace the purchase of all three cars in the months running up to Mr O’Driscoll’s murder and arrested four men and a woman in the Blarney and Mallow Road areas in April.

They later arrested a fifth man in the Mallow Road area for questioning but all six were released without charge and gardaí say that they will prepare a file for the DPP on their involvement.

Gardaí suspect Mr O’Driscoll was murdered by former associates from the Real IRA in Cork after he split from them and sided with a new grouping styling itself the New IRA.

Nicknamed ‘The Beast’ from his days playing GAA, Mr O’Driscoll was convicted of Real IRA membership in 2006 and jailed for three years but his conviction was quashed on a technicality.

He was closely aligned with former Real IRA leader Alan Ryan shot dead in Dublin 2012 and for a period prior Mr Ryan's murder, gardaí believe Mr O'Driscoll was chief-of-staff of the Real IRA.

However, in a statement issued in 2013 by the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, the Real IRA said Mr O'Driscoll had been stood down from the organisation for "unrepublican activities".

It is believed he may have siphoned off funds destined for the paramilitary organisation and he was later shot in the legs in a punishment type shooting in Cork in 2013 but made no complaint to gardaí.