A man shot in the head and twice in the upper body in a gangland attack is “gravely ill” in hospital tonight.

Gardaí are trying to establish whether the attack on the victim in a Co Dublin housing estate was part of the Kinahan-Hutch gangland feud.

That feud has been linked to nine murders since the first fatality, in Spain, last September.

The man shot and wounded in Lusk this morning is allegedly linked to the INLA.

Gardaí believe some dissident figures have become involved in the Kinahan-Hutch feud and they are now trying to establish whether the victim of today’s attack had somehow become involved in the feud.

The man now fighting for his life lives in Lusk and was targeted on the Dun Emer housing estate in the town at about 9.50am.

Gardaí believe the 37-year-old had been placed under surveillance by those who shot him and that his attackers had information about his movements.

His attackers waited for their victim, whom gardaí said would be very fortunate to recover from his injuries, to drive away from his home in a white VW Passat estate before opening fire on him.

It is believed at least two people were involved and that they escaped in a white VW Golf that was seen by witnesses leaving the area.

The car was found burnt out at Kilhedge Lane not far from the crime scene a short time after the attack.

A front window of a victim’s car at the scene was broken and blood-soaked clothing lay on the ground after the attack.

Gun lay on ground

Gardaí sealed off the crime scene for examination and collected spent rounds from a gun that lay on the ground. The burned getaway vehicle and the victim’s car were removed for forensic examination.

Local people raised the alarm and when gardaí and paramedics arrived the victim was treated at the scene before being taken to Beaumont Hospital in north Dublin.

The shooting follows the murder last Friday afternoon in Dublin 8 of convicted armed robber and drug dealer David “Daithí” Douglas (54).

Suspected of involvement

He was gunned down at a shop he ran with his wife and gardaí believe his killing may have been carried out by the Kinahan gang because it suspected him of involvement in an attempt to shoot one of its members late last year.

One line of investigation on the Douglas murder is that it was linked to the dispute between the Kinahan and Hutch factions.

The feud began when Gary Hutch (34) from Dublin’s north inner city was shot dead in Spain last September by members of the gang led by Christy Kinahan in Spain.

Nine gun murders have now been linked to the dispute between Kinahan gang members in both Dublin and Spain and the associates of Gary Hutch in Dublin.

Gardaí believe dissident republicans supplied the firearms for at least one of the murders.

One of the victims - Michael Barr, who was shot dead in the Sunset House Pub, Summerhill, north Dublin, in April - was a member of the so-called New IRA.

The man shot this morning is very closely linked to a key figure in the INLA, some of whose members have been on the periphery of the Kinahan-Hutch feud.