Gardaí investigating the murder of Dublin criminal John Daly believe he may have been killed by a gunman with links to republican paramilitaries or by one of a number of prominent criminals he fell out with while in jail.
Detectives had warned Daly (27), Cloonlara Drive, Finglas, a number of times in recent weeks that his life was in danger and had advised him to change his routine. Daly was shot dead as he sat in a taxi at about 2am yesterday close to his home.
He was in the taxi with two male friends and three women when the gunman struck. Up to six shots were fired through the window of the taxi from a semi-automatic handgun, all of which hit Daly as he sat in the front passenger seat.
His two male associates fled and gardaí were last night trying to establish their identities. The taxi driver and three female passengers were said to be "extremely distressed". The three women had met Daly and his friends just hours earlier in the Spirit nightclub on Abbey Street in the city centre.
They were going back to a house in Finglas to continue drinking when the shooting happened. Daly had told the taxi driver to stop off at a number of houses in the Finglas area in an effort to get alcohol from friends.
Gardaí believe the taxi was driving around Finglas for 30 minutes before the attack. The four-wheel drive vehicle carrying the killer pulled into the Cloonlara Drive cul de sac behind the taxi. Gardaí believe the killer and an accomplice either trailed the taxi from town or began following it in the Finglas area.
"The shooter walked up to the car and singled Daly out, it was a miracle the taxi man or nobody else was killed," said one source.
Daly had been released from prison in August after serving seven years of a nine-year term for armed robbery. He sprang to prominence when he rang RTÉ's Liveline programme on a smuggled mobile phone from his cell in Portlaoise prison.
The call prompted a clampdown on contraband in jails. As a result Daly fell out with many of the inmates he had befriended, including John Gilligan and leading Limerick criminals. One theory is that he may have been shot by a disgruntled inmate.
The gang who shot Marlo Hyland in Finglas last year are also suspects.
Gardaí are exploring the theory that he could have been shot by those with links to the republican movement. He had fallen foul of the republican movement when he shot and badly injured Liam McAllister, a nephew of Gerry Adams, in 2003. There is no suggestion Mr Adams or Mr McAllister were involved in Daly's killing.
Gardaí said Daly had also become embroiled in disputes with Finglas criminals since his release as he tried to establish himself as a leading gangland figure. "He liked to give the impression he didn't fear anybody and that any criminal activity in Finglas had to be approved by him," said one informed source.
Supt John Harnett, who is leading the investigation, said gardaí had been called to the scene shortly before 2am. Daly was brought to the Mater hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Gardaí found a dark-coloured 4x4 at the nearby Scribblestown estate and are anxious to trace movements of the vehicle. They have appealed for anybody who was in the vicinity at about 2am yesterday to come forward.