Three people were being questioned by gardaí last night following the killing of Paul Kelly (26) in Clontarf, Dublin, on Friday night. He was shot six times as he opened the door of a family member's apartment.
Two of the three being questioned, a man in his early 20s and a woman in her mid-40s, were being held at Raheny Garda station. Another man, in his early 50s, was being held at Clontarf Garda station.
Two other men, aged 19 and 25, were released without charge following questioning yesterday. A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Mr Kelly, a father of two, from Gardiner Street in the north inner city, was attacked at about 11.45pm. Gardaí believe his attackers were two men armed with a shotgun and a handgun.
They are investigating the possibility that his killing was linked to a dispute between a number of people in Dublin's north inner city.
The murder was the fifth gangland killing this year. There were 26 killings last year.
Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said yesterday that life in Dublin city was obviously cheapening by the day when a young man could be gunned down in cold blood and the general mood among people was one of indifference. "The similarities with the darkest days of the Troubles in the North are stark," he said.
He said that Dublin was now a city where young men were caught up in such a spiral of violence that the only avenue of empowerment available to them was to take up arms and gun down a supposed drug rival, or even a family member, to settle a dispute. "The reality shows a cheapening of life throughout the city and this, indeed, is deeply troubling."
Mr Ó Ríordáin said many of the areas where the young men came from were deprived of a community infrastructure and were blighted by educational disadvantage. Thirty per cent of children in disadvantaged areas had basic reading problems.
"It should surprise none of us that children with such backgrounds turn to crime," he said. "Poverty was the real scandal behind the northern Troubles and it is the basic underlining issued behind the current crisis in Dublin."
Independent Dublin Central TD Tony Gregory said the latest killing illustrated the ready availability of guns in Dublin.
He supported the general thrust of the Criminal Justice Bill currently going through the Dáil. "Those opposing it on the grounds of legal niceties are clearly out of touch with the reality of life in socially disadvantaged areas," he said.