Decent dad planned car repair classes for youths
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AIDAN O'KANE had been targeted relentlessly at his home in recent weeks by a group of teenagers, some of whom he had previously tried to help.
The self-employed mechanic had only moved to the East Wall area of Dublin approximately 10 months ago, but quickly made a positive impact among older residents by informally teaching local teens about the mechanics of cars and motorbikes as he worked in his small garage.
There was even talk of community development funds being allocated to set up a training course run by Mr O'Kane.
But, worried about the motives and behaviour of some of the teenagers turning up at his house, the 50-year-old himself backed away from the idea.
"Aidan had been all for it because he thought it would be good for his son to see his dad giving back something to society," one friend said last night.
"But tools had been disappearing and he began to see that there was a bad element in the group, using his house as a meeting place.
"It was a pity because he was just trying to help. He had a tough life himself so he didn't judge peoples' backgrounds. But these lads weren't having it. Perhaps they were jealous that he was doing something with his life."
Neighbours on Shelmalier Road said that Mr O'Kane had put up CCTV cameras in the past month as his house was continuously targeted.
"They robbed his motorbike and asked him for €1,000 to give it back," one woman said.
"He told me that he gave them €250. I told him he was an awful eejit to do that. That was the second time they robbed it off him. The first time they took the keys out of his house."
Other neighbours said Mr O'Kane's dog had also been used to extort money from him. The tyres on his son's car, which Mr O'Kane had worked on in recent weeks, were slashed. Windows were broken. The list went on.
"He was a proud man, probably too proud to go to the police, didn't want to be seen as a 'grass'," one friend said last night. Mr O'Kane was born in Cavan but grew up in Phibsboro. He only returned to Ireland a few years ago after working in a number of countries, including England and France.
He did, however, contact the gardai when a car he was fixing up for his son was set on fire on Saturday. Dylan (26) is a mature student at DCU. His mother passed away some years ago. Dylan didn't live with his father but was visiting on Sunday night when the house was 'egged'.
Friends say that the final straw may well have been another incident with his beloved motorbike last week that was not reported to gardai. He was taunted about it by the teens as he chased them from his house on Sunday evening.
Moments later he was shot; his son the first on the scene.
"He fixed my bike, and sometimes he'd let me help him when he was working on bikes or cars," neighbour Adam Gilchrist (8) said yesterday. "He had two dogs that we would play with. I liked him."
- Jason O'Brien
