Eamon Dunne

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]

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]

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. Two masked gunmen entered and shot him several times in the head and body, in front of his seventeen-year-old daughter, before escaping in a waiting car.[11] Despite his bodyguard and a number of close associates being present, nobody made any attempt to prevent the murder.[12] 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.[13] No one has been convicted of his murder.[14]

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:

  • John Paul Joyce (30), a drug trafficker, shot dead and body dumped near Dublin Airport in January 2010.[15]
  • David Thomas (43), shot dead in Finglas in October 2009.[4]
  • Paul Smyth (34), from Finglas, killed and dumped in Balbriggan, June 2009.[16]
  • Michael Murray (41), shot dead in Finglas, March 2009.[17]
  • Graham McNally (34), formerly a close associate, shot dead in Finglas, January 2009.[18]
  • Michael 'Roly' Cronin (35), a major drug dealer, and James Maloney (26), his driver, shot dead in Dublin city centre, January 2009.[19]
  • Paul 'Farmer' Martin (30), a convicted bank robber, shot dead at a pub in Finglas, August 2008.[20]
  • Trevor Walsh (33), shot dead at Kippure Park, Finglas, two days after he was released from prison, in July 2008.[21]
  • John Daly (27), shot dead as he sat in a taxi in Finglas, October 2007, two months after his release from prison, where he served a nine-year sentence for armed robbery.[22]

References
  1. "Gangland boss shot dead in packed pub". Belfast Telegraph. 25 April 2010.
  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. 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. Byrne, Cormac (30 April 2010). "Killed in 40 seconds". Herald.ie.
  13. English, Eoin (26 April 2010). "The Don responsible for ordering at least 17 murders". Irish Examiner.
  14. Naughton, Gareth (10 December 2011). "Slain crime lord's father hits out at delay hearing inquest". Independent.ie.
  15. Brady, Tom (11 January 2010). "Drug trafficker found dead in ditch was 'gang feud target'". Independent.ie.
  16. Phelan, Shane (24 April 2010). "'The Don' linked to a dozen underworld murders". Independent.ie.
  17. "Gangland gripped by fear as gun suspect seized after double killing". Herald.ie. 12 January 2010.
  18. Brady, Tom (21 January 2009). "Target of shooting lured to death by gang boss". Independent.ie.
  19. Brady, Tom (28 November 2011). "Death of notorious druglord 'led to drop in murders'". Independent.ie.
  20. Phelan, Shane (24 April 2012). "'The Don' linked to a dozen underworld murders". Independent.ie.
  21. Cusack, Jim (20 July 2008). "Bloody gang feud linked to execution of ex-convict". Independent.ie.
  22. Foy, Ken (11 July 2013). "Thug's thirst for beers led to his murder". Herald.ie.

Further reading
  • Williams, Paul. "Crime Wars". Merlin Publishing, 2008. ISBN 1903582830
  • Williams, Paul. "Badfellas". Penguin Ireland, 2011. ISBN 978-1-84488-271-7
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