Gardaí were last night questioning witnesses to the killing of Mr Declan Griffin, a suspected drug dealer and Garda informant, who was gunned down outside a Dublin pub on Saturday evening.
Mr Griffin (32) was shot once in the back of the head by a lone gunman as he was about to enter the Horse and Jockey pub in Kilmainham shortly after 6 p.m.
It is understood the Coolock man knew his life was under threat. A Garda spokesman confirmed yesterday Mr Griffin was carrying a gun and wearing a bullet-proof vest at the time of his death.
A shotgun was used in the killing, the spokesman said, although the weapon has not been recovered.
Gardaí have questioned witnesses who were in the pub and the street outside at the time of the killing, but said they were not yet following a definite line of inquiry. However, the dead man was known to have Dublin gangland associations.
The area surrounding the pub has been sealed off for forensic examination and an incident room has been set up in Kilmainham Garda station.
Mr Griffin was at the centre of a controversial drugs trial in 1999 which resulted in an internal Garda investigation into the conduct of his Garda "handler".
Mr Griffin had been charged, but was found not guilty, of bringing almost €1.3 million worth of heroin and ecstasy into Dublin Airport from Amsterdam in 1995.
He admitted in court that he was a Garda informant and said, in his defence, that his Garda handler, Det Sgt Denis Palmer, had asked him to import the drugs.
Det Sgt Palmer rejected the allegation and told the court he was "horrified" when he heard that Mr Griffin had been caught at the airport carrying drugs. Det Sgt Palmer did admit, however, that he had arranged to meet Mr Griffin at the airport.
The trial was the second on the drugs charge. His first trial had collapsed when a juror claimed she had been approached in the street by the accused and had felt intimidated by him.
