The victim of the latest gangland killing in Dublin was an associate of one of the biggest drug dealers in the country.
Detectives are working on the theory that the dead man, Patrick Harte (42), had been under surveillance for some time by those who shot him dead in Raheny, Dublin, yesterday morning. They are now investigating his links to the underworld to try to establish a motive for the killing.
However, senior Garda sources said they had not ruled out the possibility he was shot because he was suspected by some of his associates of being a Garda informer.
As well as associating with the major drug-dealing figure from Finglas, he was also closely linked to other well-known armed gangs based in west and north Dublin.
He assisted organised crime gangs in the sourcing of cars and high-powered motorcycles used in the commission of serious crime. He also helped them to sell property and was involved in money laundering.
Mr Harte, a father of four, was originally from Dublin's north inner city. He had been renting a house in Edenmore Avenue, Raheny, for around 18 months. He had lived in the Valeview estate in Finglas for many years and also had previous addresses in East Wall and Coolock in Dublin.
He had dropped two of his children, aged eight and 10, to school and had returned home to Edenmore just before 9am when he was gunned down. A gunman wearing a motorcycle helmet fired a number of shots into the victim's silver 05 Opel Vectra just after Harte had parked it on the kerb after finishing the school run. Gardaí believe the gunman was taken from the scene by an accomplice driving a motorcycle. Local people reported hearing three loud bangs before hearing what they believed was a motorcycle speeding from the scene.
One local woman, who preferred not to be named, said she heard a bang that sounded like a car backfiring and that she decided not to leave her house.
"Nothing like this goes on up here," she said.
The State Pathologist, Prof Marie Cassidy, carried out a preliminary examination at the scene before performing a postmortem at the city morgue. The Garda technical bureau carried out an examination of the murder scene. The deceased's car was removed for inspection.
Gardaí in Coolock Garda station have appealed for the public to come forward to assist them with their investigation.
Supt Michael Byrne described the murder as a "callous act". Detectives are anxious to speak to anybody who may have seen any suspicious activity or vehicles on or around Edenmore Avenue recently.
The dead man has two grown-up sons from an earlier marriage.
His first wife died some years ago and he had two more children with a new partner.
He had been working as a taxi driver in recent years and had previously owned a grocery shop in Finglas. The Finglas man with whom he was associated has become one of the biggest drug dealers in the country in the last two years. This man's gang, which is involved in armed robbery and drug dealing, has come under close Garda scrutiny in the last six months. The gang leader is the prime target of the new organised crime unit within the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
One of his associates was arrested at a house in north county Dublin in recent weeks that gardaí believe was being used as a cocaine processing plant. Four members of his gang were arrested last month as they were about to carry out an armed raid, also in north county Dublin.