Eamon Dunne

Last updated

Eamon Dunne, nicknamed "The Don", was a major Irish organised crime figure from Finglas, North Dublin. [1] [2] He led a gang based in Finglas, Cabra, and Ballymun, who were involved in drug dealing, armed robbery, extortion and murder. [2] He took control of the gang after the murder of crime boss Martin "Marlo" Hyland, who was shot dead in December 2006, and Gardaí suspect that Dunne, who was one of Hyland's closest associates, drove the getaway car for the killers. [3] [4]

Contents

Dunne was linked to 17 gangland murders over the next three years, as he consolidated his position by having rivals and suspected Garda informers killed. [5]

Death

Dunne's increasing paranoia and unstable behaviour eventually led to his own gang members turning against him and they conspired with others to have him killed. Gardaí believe a major Irish drug trafficker based in Spain, who supplied Dunne's gang with drugs and a veteran crime boss based in North Dublin, who acted as a mentor to Dunne, were angry at Dunne for bringing too much Garda attention to gangland. [6] [7] [8] [9] Together with some of Dunne's closest associates they are suspected of organising his murder and of hiring a gang of young criminals from the north inner city to actually carry out the hit. [10]

Thirty-four-year-old Dunne was murdered as he attended a friend's birthday party at a pub in Cabra on 23 April 2010. A hit team of four men arrived in a car, one of them waved his gun around and warned smokers outside the pub to disperse. He then guarded the front door. Two masked gunmen entered and shot Dunne several times in the head and body, in front of his seventeen-year-old daughter, before escaping in a waiting car. [11] The first gunman shot Dunne twice in the chest & once in the head, with the second gunman also performing the "Mozambique Drill" on him as he lay on the ground. [12] Despite his bodyguard and a number of close associates being present, nobody made any attempt to prevent the murder. [13] At the time of his death, Dunne was on bail and awaiting trial in connection with a €900,000 robbery of a cash-in-transit van in Celbridge in 2007. [14] No one has been convicted of his murder. [15]

Victims

While not pulling the trigger himself, Dunne was suspected of ordering at least a dozen gangland murders in the years before his death. [4]

The victims included:

See also

Related Research Articles

Gerard Hutch is an Irish criminal. He was the prime suspect for two of the biggest armed robberies in Irish history. Known for leading a "disciplined, ascetic lifestyle" since leaving prison in 1985, he was nicknamed "The Monk" by investigative journalist Veronica Guerin. Hutch is also the leader of the organized crime group the Hutch Gang, and was charged but acquitted of the murder of David Byrne.

John Gilligan is a convicted Irish gangster. He was given a 28-year prison sentence for the trafficking of commercial quantities of cannabis resin. On appeal, this sentence was reduced to 20 years, and in October 2013, he was released after serving 17 years.

The Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB) is a specialist national unit within the Garda Síochána, Ireland's national police service, responsible for proactively targeting and investigating drug trafficking and serious organised crime both within Ireland and outside the jurisdiction. The Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau has a complement of 111 Detective Gardaí and a total staff of up to 400 officers, all of whom are armed.

Eamon Kelly was a high-profile Irish convicted drug trafficker and former crime leader.

The Crumlin-Drimnagh feud is a feud between rival criminal gangs in south inner city Dublin, Ireland. The feud began in 2000 when a drugs seizure led to a split in a gang of young criminals in their late teens and early twenties, most of whom had grown up together and went to the same school. The resulting violence has led to 16 murders and scores of beatings, stabbings, shootings and pipe bomb attacks.

The Limerick feud is a feud between rival criminal gangs in Limerick City, Ireland. The feud started between two criminals in the year 2000 and then spread to involve several criminal families, mainly the Keane-Collopy gang from St. Mary's Park and the McCarthy-Dundon gang from Ballinacurra Weston. While control of the drug trade is a factor in the feud, according to Garda Superintendent Gerry Mahon, the primary driving force is "absolute hatred by each side for the other". Up to twenty murders and hundreds of shootings, stabbings, and pipe bomb attacks have been attributed to the feud since it began.

Martin Hyland was a major Irish criminal and gang boss.

The McCarthy-Dundon's is a criminal gang based in Limerick City, Ireland. Their main base is Ballinacurra Weston on Limerick's southside but they also have a strong presence in Southill and in the northside suburb of Moyross. The gang, involved in drug dealing, extortion and armed robbery, have been central players in the Limerick feud, which has claimed up to 13 lives. The feud, which involves several criminal families, mainly the McCarthy-Dundons, the Ryans and the Keane-Collopy gang from St. Mary's Park, has been ongoing since 2000.

The Westies was the name given by the Irish media to a criminal gang based in Blanchardstown, west Dublin, Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of David Byrne</span> 2016 murder in Dublin

The Irish criminal David Byrne was shot dead on 5 February 2016 at the Regency Hotel in Whitehall, Dublin.

The shooting of Eddie Hutch Snr occurred on 8 February 2016. Eddie was the brother of Gerry Hutch, the leader of the Hutch gang, which was in a feud with the Kinahan gang, led by Christy Kinahan. The feud of the two criminal gangs, called the 2015–16 Irish gangland feud, in the Republic of Ireland resulted in the deaths of ten people.

The Hutch–Kinahan feud is a major ongoing feud between two criminal organisations in Ireland that has resulted in the deaths of eighteen people, the majority of which have been perpetrated by the Kinahan family. The Hutch gang, led by Gerry Hutch, and the Kinahan Family, led by Daniel Kinahan, are the main participants.

David "Daithí" Douglas, an Irish zookeeper turned criminal, was shot dead on 1 July 2016. He had convictions dating from the 1980s as well as more recent ones and had survived a shooting the previous November. His murder is part of the Hutch–Kinahan feud. In August 2018 'Fat' Freddy Thompson was found guilty of the murder by the Special Criminal Court.

The Coolock feud is a series of allegedly connected murders that happened in Dublin in 2019.

Keane Mulready-Woods of Drogheda, County Louth, was an Irish teenager who disappeared on 12 January 2020, and whose dismembered body was then found in Coolock, County Dublin. More of his remains were found in Drumcondra in a burnt out car the following week.

The Drogheda feud is a series of allegedly connected crimes in Drogheda, Ireland. Four people have been killed as a result of the feud. The feud began in 2017 when a drug trafficking focused organized crime gang split into two divisions, with one faction led by Richie Carberry along with two brothers aged in their 20s from the Moneymore estate on the north side of town, and the other headed by Irish Travellers Owen Maguire and Cornelius Price.

Benny Whitehouse was a 35 year old Irishman who was shot dead in Balbriggan as part of a suspected criminal feud.

David Byrne was an Irish criminal associated with the Kinahan Organised Crime Group run by Christy Kinahan. His parents were James and Sadie Byrne. He was from Raleigh Square in Crumlin.

James Whelan was shot dead on 3 April 2022 in the Deanstown area of Finglas, Dublin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinahan Organised Crime Group</span> Irish criminal organisation

The Kinahan Organised Crime Group (KOCG), also known as the Kinahan Cartel, is a major Irish transnational organised crime syndicate alleged to be the most powerful in Ireland and one of the largest organised crime groups in the world. It is also established in the UK, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates. It was founded by Christy Kinahan in the 1990s. His eldest son Daniel manages the day-to-day operations of the family's criminal group. Estimated reports have credited them with wealth of up to €1 billion.

References

  1. ↑ "Gangland boss shot dead in packed pub". Belfast Telegraph. 25 April 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Badfellas" Paul Williams (2011) Penguin Ireland ISBN   1844882713
  3. ↑ Foy, Ken (13 March 2012). "Two of Ireland's most dangerous gangsters". Herald.ie.
  4. 1 2 3 Phelan, Shane (24 April 2010). "'The Don' linked to a dozen underworld murders". Independent.ie.
  5. ↑ Cusack, Jim (25 April 2010). "Gardai link assassinated crime boss to 17 murders". Independent.ie.
  6. ↑ O'Keeffe, Cormac (6 December 2012). "Dublin's gangland in state of violent flux". Irish Examiner.
  7. ↑ O'Toole, Michael (2 December 2012). "Hunt is still on for Eamonn 'The Don' Dunne hitmen". thestar.ie. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  8. ↑ Williams, Paul (5 December 2012). "Paul Williams on the life and crimes of Godfather Eamon Kelly". Independent.ie.
  9. ↑ Byrne, Cormac (13 May 2010). "Cocaine price war may have resulted in Don's downfall". Herald.ie.
  10. ↑ Foy, Ken (20 November 2012). "Man arrested in dawn raid over 'Don' pub murder". Herald.ie.
  11. ↑ Foy, Ken (21 March 2012). "'The Don' took aggressive call minutes before death". Herald.ie.
  12. ↑ "Killed in 40 seconds".
  13. ↑ Byrne, Cormac (30 April 2010). "Killed in 40 seconds". Herald.ie.
  14. ↑ English, Eoin (26 April 2010). "The Don responsible for ordering at least 17 murders". Irish Examiner.
  15. ↑ Naughton, Gareth (10 December 2011). "Slain crime lord's father hits out at delay hearing inquest". Independent.ie.
  16. ↑ Brady, Tom (11 January 2010). "Drug trafficker found dead in ditch was 'gang feud target'". Independent.ie.
  17. ↑ Phelan, Shane (24 April 2010). "'The Don' linked to a dozen underworld murders". Independent.ie.
  18. ↑ "Gangland gripped by fear as gun suspect seized after double killing". Herald.ie. 12 January 2010.
  19. ↑ Brady, Tom (21 January 2009). "Target of shooting lured to death by gang boss". Independent.ie.
  20. ↑ Brady, Tom (28 November 2011). "Death of notorious druglord 'led to drop in murders'". Independent.ie.
  21. ↑ Phelan, Shane (24 April 2012). "'The Don' linked to a dozen underworld murders". Independent.ie.
  22. ↑ Cusack, Jim (20 July 2008). "Bloody gang feud linked to execution of ex-convict". Independent.ie.
  23. ↑ Foy, Ken (11 July 2013). "Thug's thirst for beers led to his murder". Herald.ie.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.