Two prisoners in Mountjoy Prison were rushed to hospital early this morning after a suspected drugs overdose and suicide attempt.
One of the men, Dubliner Daniel Doyle (31), appeared in the TV crime drama Love/Hate and has worked as a fitness model.
The Ballymun man, who is serving a one-year sentence for drug dealing, was found unresponsive in his cell on Friday morning.
When the cell doors were unlocked just after 8am staff realised Doyle was in a serious condition in his D wing cell.
Prison officers went to his aid and paramedics were called. Doyle was stabilised at the scene.
He was then treated by paramedics from the Mater Hospital across the North Circular Road from the Mountjoy prison campus.
Efforts to save his life have been continuing through the day. However, informed sources said he has failed to respond to treatment and there are now real fears for his life.
It was unclear what drugs he had consumed, though his case was being investigated by the prison authorities.
In February, Doyle was jailed for 12 months relating to a drug dealing offence at his home in November, 2014.
Garda found 446 ecstasy tablets and a small bag containing around €600 in cash. Drugs paraphernalia was also found in a safe in Doyle’s bedroom, including a weighing scales and syringes.
He has over 30 previous convictions including four for drug dealing and two for threats to kill or cause serious harm. He is due for release from prison in about two months.
Doyle, who appeared as an extra in series five of Love/Hate, is a body builder. Just weeks after being jailed earlier this year a claim for compensation following a road traffic crash was dismissed in the courts.
He claimed he had been left badly injured and in so much pain he was unable to lift his young daughter.
However, lawyers for the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland showed him photos of himself he had posted on Facebook, including one where he was carrying a grown man.
The cases was immediately dismissed. Doyle had opted to take his case to the High Court, which can awarded an unlimited sum in damages and decided to ignore the Circuit Court which can award up to €60,000.
Doyle was regarded as having a future in modelling when he was released from prison in his early twenties and signed for the Assets agency.
He has spent a number of periods in jail; sentenced to two years in 2007 after being caught with cocaine and shotgun cartridges in Glasnevin, north Dublin, in 2006.
He told the gardai he kept the ammunition because he was in fear of his life from other criminals.
In separate attacks in 2011 and 2012 he was stabbed a total of 13 times. Both incidents occurred on his way home from the same pub in north Dublin.
Meanwhile, the prisoner who tried to take his own life, a Dubliner serving a sentence for robbery, was found in his cell just after 8am on B wing before his efforts to self harm had become advanced.
He remained conscious throughout and was able to communicate with both prison staff and medical staff as they helped him.
He was taken to the Mater Hospital and examined before being transferred back to the jail where he is now being held under observation.
