Gardaí are examining if recent gun attacks in a worsening feud between rival criminal factions are linked to the shooting dead of Christy Daly just three weeks after his release from prison.
While Daly (43), a well- known criminal, would not have been regarded as a central figure in either side of the feud, he was involved in the dispute. It has seen a number of non-fatal gun attacks in parts of Co Offaly in recent months, including Clara and Tullamore.
Garda sources said the frequency of those incidents had increased in the latter months of last year and that “seven or eight” attacks of which they were aware were believed to be feud-related.
If the killing of Daly, a father of six, whose body was found in a flooded drain near Clara on Tuesday morning, is feud-related, it would represent a serious escalation in the dispute.
Rival factions
The rival factions are linked to the drug trade and, like Daly, many of the men involved are members of the Traveller community.
However, Daly also had a number of convictions for violent attacks; gardaí have not ruled out the possibility that his murder was somehow linked to his criminal past.
He had been released from the Midlands Prison, Portlaoise, Co Laois, in the first week of December after being sentenced to six years for his role in the gunpoint abduction and false imprisonment of a man known to him.
Half of the sentence was suspended and the remaining three years were backdated to include the time he had spent in prison on remand.
After remission was factored into his term of imprisonment, he was released from jail just 14 months after being sentenced.
He had been also investigated for a series of alleged sexual offences. He was questioned in relation to those allegations but, while files were sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions some years ago, no charges were ever pressed.
Living in a caravan
Daly had been living in a caravan at Bog Road, Kilbride, Clara, where a Garda search team went on Tuesday morning after he had not been seen since December 28th or 29th.
His body was found at the bottom of a six-foot-deep flooded drain and his caravan and two vehicles were found burned-out at the scene.
A postmortem found he had been shot multiple times in the upper body and arm. Gardaí believe he was killed and his body dumped in the drain up to 10 days before his remains were found.
He had kept a low profile since returning to live near Clara following his release from prison and, because he was estranged from his family, who live in Arden Drive, Tullamore, he was not reported missing.
Gardaí in Tullamore are investigating his murder and have urged anyone with information to come forward and speak to them in confidence.
