TWO IRA members from Dublin were being questioned last night by detectives investigating the murder of Co Wicklow publican, Mr Tom Nevin, at his pub last March. One of the men is involved in vigilante action against drug abusers.
Gardai arrested the two men at addresses in Dublin yesterday.
They are being held under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, which allows their detention without charge for 48 hours. They were taken to Arklow Garda station for questioning. However, there was no sign of the case proceeding to charges last night.
Gardai believe there was a conspiracy to murder Mr Nevin and say a number of criminals in Dublin were approached to carry out the killing over at least two years. It emerged during the summer that two IRA figures, who are involved in a number of IRA related businesses in Dublin as well as organising vigilante attacks on people suspected of supplying drugs, accepted the contract" to murder the publican.
It is believed that a substantial sum of money, possibly running into tens of thousands of pounds, was paid for the murder.
Mr Nevin was killed with a shotgun blast fired from point blank range into his side by two gunmen early on March 19th. He was counting takings in the back room of his pub, Jack White's, in Brittas.
After the murder, a car used by the killers was found in south central Dublin.
IRA figures from south central Dublin, including one of the suspects in the Nevin murder, were involved in the attacks on drug abusers in the early summer which culminated in Josey Dwyer being beaten to death in the Liberties in May.