Gardaí in Limerick were last night investigating the gangland-style killing of a 25-year-old man whose body was found dumped in a lane early yesterday.
The victim, who has been named locally as David Nunan, from O'Malley Park, Southill, was discovered face down, with at least one gunshot wound to his back, at around 8.30am in a laneway at the back of a private residence in the village of Parteen, Co Clare, three miles from Limerick city.
The owner of the house is a well-known businessman who left his home for work yesterday morning unaware of the presence of the body.
One of the first on the scene yesterday morning was Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea, who was in the area on constituency business with a local group.
It is not yet known if the victim had been lured to the area or if he was shot elsewhere and the body then dumped at the scene, which is only a short distance from Parteen church.
The dead man, who was released from prison in the last number of days, was known to the Garda and had a number of previous convictions.
Yesterday's fatal shooting sparked the first murder investigation by gardaí in the Limerick division in almost 15 months.
Senior sources said the killing is not connected to Limerick's much-publicised feud, but it is understood the victim was involved with a drugs gang operating from the Southill area of the city.
State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy travelled to Limerick yesterday to carry out a postmortem on the body at the Mid Western Regional Hospital, in Dooradoyle.
Supt Gerry Mahon, who is leading the investigation, last night urged anyone who may have witnessed anything that might help with the investigation to contact their local Garda station.
"We would be appealing to anyone who may have seen a car or anyone acting suspiciously in the area to contact gardaí," he said.
Mr O'Dea yesterday expressed his shock at the discovery. "It's fair to say that it was a bit of a shocker alright. I was just in the area on constituency business, meeting a local councillor to discuss public lighting in an estate, when we literally stumbled across this."
Local councillor Cathal Crowe, who was with the Minister, said yesterday's discovery had stunned the quiet residential area.
"We are absolutely shocked here. This has shaken the bedrock of the village of Parteen.
"This village has never been associated with anything like this.
"People are naturally concerned about their safety and this does raise security concerns in the area," said Cllr Crowe.
Yesterday's killing is the first murder to be investigated by gardaí in Limerick this year.
The last murder in Limerick city was that of Martin O'Donoghue, from St Mary's Park, who was stabbed to death in a row over drugs outside a pub on Broad Street on August 9th, 2004.