A man shot dead in north Co Dublin has been named locally as Patrick “Pappy” Lyons.
Mr Lyons, aged in his 40s, lived in Ballymun with his mother and son, who is understood to be of primary school age.
The father was shot as he walked along Belclare Terrace at about 9pm on Thursday. He received a number of gunshot wounds and died at the scene.
Chairperson of the local drugs task force in Ballymun, Andrew Montague, described the killing of Mr Lyons as “awful”.
“Patrick didn’t deserve this, he’s been a victim all his life,” Mr Montague told RTÉ Radio 1’s News at One.
“It’s just an awful way to kill a man like that.”
This just wouldn’t be acceptable in other communities
Mr Montague said the community needs additional help to tackle drug crime and child neglect.
“Here in Ballymun, we’ve had to put up with very serious levels of crimes in recent years,” he said.
“We’ve a long history going back to the 80s of people being involved in heroin and drug addiction and a lot of those addicts still have problems by their 40s and 50s. They’ve been targeted by crime gangs trying to get them addicted to crack cocaine.”
He said there are not enough gardaí or social workers to deal with the problems in the community and help the children that are being neglected.
“We really need some help in this community,” he added.
“This just wouldn’t be acceptable in other communities and I don’t know why the people of Ballymun have to put up with it.”
Gardaí said on Friday morning that Mr Lyons' body has been taken to Dublin City Mortuary where a post-mortem examination will be carried out by Dr Linda Mulligan of the Office of the State Pathologist later on Friday.
An investigation is under way and a technical examination of the scene is being conducted by members of the Garda technical bureau.
A section of Belclare Terrace and adjacent Poppintree Park have been cordoned off.
The Irish Times reports that the victim is an associate of some of the criminals involved in the Kinahan-Hutch feud.
However, while he was reportedly “a close associate of a member of the Kinahan cartel who was jailed recently for gun crime”, it is unclear if the shooting was linked to the feud in any way.
Gardaí are appealing for anyone with information in relation to this incident to come forward.
Officers are particularly appealing to anyone who was in the Belclare Terrace and Belclare Park areas between 8pm and 9.15pm on Thursday and may have camera footage, both dash-cam and mobile phone footage, to make it available to them.
My statement regarding tonight's shooting in Ballymun. pic.twitter.com/P2FL4SSZTc
— Paul McAuliffe TD (@PaulMcauliffe) February 11, 2021
Gardaí said they are aware of video footage and images circulating in the aftermath of the shooting.
They have asked people not to share this material out of respect for the family.
Anyone with any information in relation to this matter should contact Ballymun Garda station on 01 666 4400, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.
Local Fianna Fáil TD Paul McAuliffe said the hearts of many in Ballymun would “sink” seeing the bad news about Ballymun in the media, “knowing this has started feuding in the past and that many people with addiction are being exploited by those making millions”.
“I regret the loss of life and am thinking of the family concerned,” he said.
Local councillor Keith Connolly said the local community is in shock. “The death of any person is obviously very sad, and in the middle of a pandemic it’s much worse, when our emergency services are stretched to the max.
“I think the community will say that this is not what Ballymun is about, but yet again a small minority linked to gangland just don’t care about anyone else.”
