Gardaí investigating the murder of a 23-year-old man in Sligo at the weekend suspect he was killed by a well-known local criminal who has since gone into hiding.
Sam Smith was shot when he answered the front door to his sister's home at Carroll Drive, Cranmore at 11.20pm on Friday. He died of his injuries the following day in hospital.
While gardaí said they were following several lines of inquiry, they have identified as a chief suspect a local career criminal who was already on the run from a court arrest warrant.
The suspected gunman has served time for armed robbery and was at one time a member of a violent Dublin gang.
He is believed to have murdered Mr Smith in revenge for an assault carried out on a third party last month. Local sources said members of the Smith family were threatened that the assault would be avenged.
Mr Smith's murder brought to 61 the number of people killed in violent circumstances in 2005 - a sharp increase on the previous year, when there were 45 homicides.
The 2005 total exceeds the previous record for homicides, set in 2001 and 2002, both of which saw 58 people unlawfully killed.
Last year's surge in homicides was in large part due to a five-fold increase in gangland killings.
Speaking 12 months ago, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said Ireland had one of the lowest homicide rates in Europe with just four gangland killings in 2004. In 2005, there were 19 gangland killings - excluding Mr Smith's murder.
Mr Smith, who was known to gardaí for minor offences, died in Sligo General Hospital on Saturday after being shot in the stomach and arm.
A Catholic priest in the parish where Mr Smith lost his life yesterday hit out at soft punishment for killers and other serious criminals.
Fr Dominic Gillooly, parish priest at St Anne's, Sligo, said: "There was a time when an offender guilty of a misdemeanour got a few years in jail - with hard labour. Now you never hear of that punishment. Hardened criminals are sent away to the lap of luxury."
Of the weekend murder, the priest said: "Our sympathies go out to the family of this young man. His killing was a senseless act. "It is particularly disturbing that it happened over the Christmas season, a time of peace and goodwill."
He added he was aware of speculation about what prompted the murder. "There was a time when disagreements were settled in a much different way. Years ago you went home with a black eye or a split lip.
"Now guns and bullets are used. There have been so many murders, yet just the occasional conviction and then next thing there is an appeal and the conviction is found unsafe. There's a sense abroad among a lot of people that even if they are convicted they will serve only a few years."
Opposition politicians have also criticised what they perceive as lenient sentences for gangland-related crime.
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte recently pointed out that 75 murders, with the use of guns, had occurred between 1998 and 2004, but proceedings were taken in only 26 cases (35 per cent), and convictions were secured in only 12 cases (16 per cent).
Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis was due last night to carry out a postmortem examination on Mr Smith's body.
Garda Supt Michael Barrett, who is in charge of the investigation, appealed for help from Cranmore residents.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Sligo Garda station at (071) 915 7000.