Finglas: Fatal shooting linked to criminal gang feud

James Whelan was found dead in the Deanstown Avenue area of Finglas on Sunday, with a gunshot wound to the chest

The killing of a man in north Dublin at the weekend is believed to be linked to an ongoing feud between two criminal gangs.

The victim has been named locally as 29-year-old James Whelan.

He was found dead with a gunshot wound in the chest, in the Deanstown Avenue area of Finglas on Sunday morning.

Gardaí (Irish police) said emergency services attended the scene at about 04:30 local time, but he was pronounced dead.

The area where Mr Whelan's body was found, along with a nearby house, remains sealed off for a second day.

RTÉ has reported that Mr Whelan was known to gardaí for his involvement in serious and organised crime.

An ongoing feud has reportedly involved several incidents, but this has escalated with Mr Whelan's killing.

Conor Lally, The Irish Times' security and crime editor, said there was a fear of further "tit-for-tat" shootings and killings.

"This feud has really been ongoing for the last few years and it has really escalated with serious incidents over the last six months - drive by shootings at houses, a hand grenade thrown at a house earlier in the year, there have been petrol bombs thrown at houses," he said.

"These tit-for-tat attacks have really escalated, particularly since the start of the year and now things have blown up over the weekend."

Detectives at Finglas have appealed for witnesses, particularly anyone who was in the area on Saturday night into Sunday morning with mobile or dashcam footage to contact them.