THE LEADER of arguably the biggest organised crime gang in the Republic has been shot dead in a gun attack in north Dublin.
Eamon Dunne was gunned down just before 10pm last night at the Fassaugh House pub in Cabra.
It is believed he was shot a number of times in the head. At least two men were involved in the attack and are believed to have fled in a red LH-registered car. The killing is one of the most significant gangland murders of the last decade.
The motive for the murder was unclear last night but Dunne’s gang are the chief suspects for more gun murders than any other group in the history of Irish organised crime.
Said one Garda source: “The list of suspects will be very, very long.”
Dunne (34), Dunsoughly Drive, Ratoath Road, Finglas, had assumed control of the major Finglas-based drugs and armed robbery gang once led by Martin “Marlo” Hyland.
Along with a gang leader involved in the Limerick feud, Dunne has been the Garda’s main gangland target of recent years.
Dunne was awaiting trial for the attempted armed robbery of a cash-in-transit van in Celbridge, Co Kildare, in November 2007.
He was arrested at the scene of the alleged attempted robbery with a number of other men after a major surveillance operation was put in place for months by key Garda specialist units.
He was a target of the Garda National Drugs Unit, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Criminal Assets Bureau and Organised Crime Unit.
Under his leadership his Finglas gang imported vast quantities of drugs from outside the State and supplied them to smaller gangs nationwide. Dunne also smuggled weapons and was implicated in a number of armed robberies.
Dunne was suspected of helping to organise Hyland’s murder in Finglas in December 2006. Since then, the gang, under Dunne’s leadership, have been the most significant players in the drugs trade in Dublin and are the chief suspects for a string of gangland murders.
They killed young plumber’s apprentice Anthony Campbell during the same attack that claimed Hyland’s life.
In January of this year Dunne’s gang abducted and shot dead Coolock gangland figure JP Joyce and dumped his remains in a frozen ditch at the back of Dublin airport.
At least two other men have been killed by the gang this year but details cannot be disclosed for legal reasons.
Last October David Thomas (43), of Cloonlara Crescent, Finglas, was shot in the head as he smoked a cigarette outside the Drake Inn, Finglas. He was killed by Dunne’s gang in revenge for another murder.
In January 2009 the gang shot dead Michael “Roly” Cronin (35) and James Moloney (26) in Summerhill, Dublin. They are also believed to have murdered the man they paid to shoot Cronin and Moloney.
Less than two weeks later Dunne’s gang shot dead one of their own members, Graham McNally (34). He was a very close associate of Dunne’s and was killed as part of an internal gang dispute.
In March 2009, Michael Murray (41) was shot dead at Kippure Park, Finglas, as part of a row with Dunne’s gang.
In June 2009 the remains of Paul Smyth (34), Finglas, Dublin, were found dumped near Balbriggan. He too had been involved in a feud with Dunne.