The west Dublin man who put up John Gilligan on his release from prison and acted as his driver was shot dead tonight.

Stephen Douglas Moran, in his mid-40s, was shot by a lone gunman at his home in the Earlsfort estate in Clondalkin at 7.30pm.

Gilligan was picked up at Portlaoise Prison in the armour plated BMW X5 four-wheel drive owned by Moran. After his release Moran regularly drove Gilligan in the car.

Moran was high on the garda’s list of serious criminals and republican subversives though he had come to little media attention.

Moran, who is understood to own four pubs and a security company, picked Gilligan up at Portlaoise Prison in an armoured car and drove him to his coming out party in Gilligan’s brother’s home – ironically where Gilligan was shot two weeks ago.

Originally from Limerick, “Dougie” Moran, as he was known, had close links to the Dundon crime family and was also heavily involved in “dissident” republican criminal activity.

At one stage gardai believed he was head of the “Continuity” IRA faction running its extortion rackets and other activity.

Gardai believe Moran was involved in the murder of the innocent rugby player, Shane Geoghegan, shot dead in mistake for another man in Limerick in November 2008.

He lived in a heavily fortified house in Earlsfort View on the border of Clondalkin and Lucan with bullet proof windows and up to a dozen CCTV cameras mounted on the outside.

The murder puts further pressure on Gilligan who is increasingly facing the prospect of fleeing Ireland in order to stay alive.

Gardai said they believed the murder was directly linked to Moran’s association with the drug trafficker who was trying to re-establish himself in the Dublin organised crime scene.

Unlike the botched attack on Gilligan, tonight’s murder was carried out with cool efficiency, gardai said. Moran was shot as he arrived at his home. The gunman was driven away and a short time later the car was found burning in Glen Vale in Lucan.

Moran was pronounced dead on arrival at Tallaght Hospital. Initial reports that a second man was shot in the same incident proved to be untrue.

Moran came from a traveller family background but became involved in crime and subversive activity in his twenties. He was under constant surveillance but managed to avoid convictions for any major crimes.

Gardai believe he was working in close association with Gilligan, who had developed links throughout his career with republican/criminal elements, with the intention of establishing a major criminal network in Dublin and Limerick to rival existing gangs. His death has put an end to this plan, gardai said last night.

Jim Cusack

Online Editors