Declan Duffy may be out of prison within two years

Former INLA leader Declan 'Whacker' Duffy has been arrested by gardai in Dublin just before midday.

He is now being detained in Clontarf Garda Station.

It's understood he was arrested in connection to allegations of extortion.

Duffy's arrest comes just three days after the Herald newspaper reported that Duffy and Dessie 'Border Fox' O'Hare were among a group of men alleged to be involved in two incidents at an estate in the Citywest area.

A businesssman and a security guard were the victims of an assault. Both refused to make a complaint to gardai - and the security guard was subjected to a serious assault which left him hospitalised.

Gardai believe the assaults are linked to INLA extortion activities in the capital and are trying to establish which dissident figures were involved in the savage attacks.

It is not clear whether Duffy's arrest was in connection to this incident.

However, sources say that "reliable information" has come in that both Duffy and O'Hare were present along with a feared Tallaght criminal.

In April, the Herald revealed that gardai were looking to speak to Duffy after a Mercedes car owned by a 68-year-old businessman was burnt out by associates of the gangland thug in the Glasnevin area of the capital.

Originally from Armagh, Duffy is now spending his time between two addresses in south inner city and an address north of the border.

He joined the INLA in the 1980s and was still a teenager when he was involved in the murder of Sergeant Michael Newman in Derby, England in 1992.

It was not until July 2010 that he was convicted and received a life sentence for the murder of the unarmed police officer.

Like Duffy, O' Hare was also released under the Good Friday Agreement after being given a 40-year sentence for kidnapping and mutilating Dublin dentist John O'Grady in 1987 and was linked to multiple murders during the Troubles.

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Irish Independent