Gardai to talk with boy (11) who saw his dad shot dead

THE traumatised 11-year-old boy who witnessed his father being shot dead on a Dublin street will be interviewed by specialist gardai.

The youngster was just feet away from his father, Declan O'Reilly, when he was gunned down on Dublin's South Circular Road by his killer on Monday.

The garda leading the murder investigation, Supt Thadie Muldoon, said that the child would be spoken to about his trauma by gardai who are specially trained in dealing with such a sensitive issue.

Deputy Garda Commissioner Nacie Rice described the shooting of Declan O'Reilly as "an act of depravity", given his killers did not hesitate to shoot him dead even though he was standing beside his child.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the murders of O'Reilly and of Gerard Eglington, who was also shot dead in front of his children on Monday, had showed that "life has become very cheap indeed".

Supt Muldoon added: "Tragically his son was walking a few feet ahead of him on the road, when this incident happened.

"The child is receiving all the help that we can give him, specialist child interviewers will be dealing with him.

"A liaison officer has been appointed to the family and we will be assisting them every way possible."

Meanwhile the Irish Independent has learnt that the two killers of gangland figure Gerard Eglington had been seen around the Co Laois town of Portarlington in the days before his savage murder.

Officers are sifting through CCTV footage taken from cameras throughout the town in an attempt to identify the killers.

Detectives believe the men carried out the "hit" on Eglington as a favour to members of a rival gang, who had threatened to kill him.

Movements

Intelligence indicated the men had been seen in different parts of the town, including a number of local pubs and in the Kilnacourt Woods housing estate where Eglington lived, for up to a week before the shooting on Monday morning.

The men were not masked when they carried out the murder in front of Eglington's three-year-old son and 11-year-old stepdaughter.

Gardai are now hopeful that locals will come forward to report on the movements of the men.

Officers have also established that the car used in the getaway, a dark blue Mazda6, with a registration plate 05 KY 934 had been stolen after a break-in at a house at Auburn Close in Castleknock, west Dublin, in the middle of August.

They are anxious to trace anybody who might have seen that vehicle in a car park, filling station or similar location since then.

Shortly after the murder, it was found burnt out, about a kilometre from the shooting scene, at Lea Road.

Specially trained officers are waiting to interview the 11-year-old girl about her horrific ordeal as the killer burst into her home, fired two bullets from a handgun into her stepfather's back and another two into his side as he turned and tried vainly to escape.

The two children and their mother, Crystal Nolan, were staying with relatives last night as they were being comforted about their loss.

Relatives of Ms Nolan, who live in the town, declined to comment on the brutal killing.

Gerard Eglington's body was last night released to his family, who were making arrangements for his funeral.

He had been warned on five separate occasions by gardai in recent months that his life was in danger.

The murder is believed to be directly linked to an attack in a Dublin south city pub in which a close associate of the rival gang leader had been seriously injured and a woman also sustained facial wounds.