GARDAÍ ARE investigating if the shooting of three men in West Dublin yesterday morning may have been linked to dissident republican vigilantes.
Corduff Park, Blanchardstown remained closed last night as gardaí continued to search it for evidence as part of their investigation into the mid-morning shootings.
The victims, all in their 20s, were in the park at around 11.15am yesterday drinking vodka when two men dressed in dark clothes approached them.
As the two got closer, they donned balaclavas and opened fire on the three men with what were thought to have been handguns.
One of the victims was shot in the head and fell to the ground. The other two were also hit, but managed to run to a nearby house and raise the alarm.
Their attackers ran on foot through the park to Edgewood Lawns, a nearby estate.
The three injured men were taken to James Connolly hospital, Blanchardstown and the Mater hospital, in Dublin city centre.
Last night one of the men was in a critical condition and the other two were described as serious. One of the men had served a lengthy jail sentence for the serious assault of a man.
A Garda source said they were exploring the possibility that the attack may have been carried out by dissident republican vigilantes.
Gardaí at Blanchardstown appealed for anyone who was in the area around the time of the attack to contact them.
Minister for Justice Alan Shatter also called on locals “who can help the gardaí in any way with even the smallest scrap of information” to make contact.
He said he shared the sense of revulsion at the incident, which occurred in broad daylight.
“This type of incident is revolting to all law-abiding citizens,” he said.
Local residents said it was a miracle the park had not been full of football players.
The teams that normally play there, from Corduff Football Club, are aged four years and up.
This weekend all junior football had been cancelled to allow teams to take part in the Johnny Giles inaugural “Walk of Dreams”, a sponsored walk to raise money for charity.
None of the locals who talked to The Irish Timeslast night was willing to be identified.
One man said he was sorry to hear about the shootings and that it gave the area a bad name. “It’s a great area,” he said. Another man said he was not surprised by the shootings. “I wasn’t shocked and I’m sorry to have to say that,” he said.
“There’s so much violence now across the city, across the whole country; life is cheap as dirt.”
He said drugs problems in the area had been getting out of hand and there had been a lot of small incidents between gangs.
A man who was shopping locally said he was shocked at the ferocity, but not surprised it had happened. “There has been underlying violence in Blanchardstown for a while and the gardaí haven’t got a handle on it,” he said.