current

Sligo 32CSM Man Talks About Lethal Shooting

A Sligo man who was with Real IRA leader Alan Ryan when he was shot dead has said the attack was rapid and well planned.

Ryan (32) was shot at Grange Lodge Avenue in Clongriffin, Dublin, close to his home on Monday last week just before 3.30pm.

Paul Stewart (22), from Coolaney, Co Sligo, said he was walking on the Dublin street with Ryan and fellow Coolaney man Aaron Neilis when they were ambushed from behind by the killer. Mr Stewart is a member of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement.

While Ryan was hit in the upper body and head up to six times and Mr Neilis wounded in the leg, Mr Stewart said he managed to take cover and he was not wounded. It is believed that Mr Neilis is recovering from his injuries.

He told Joe Duffy's Liveline on RTÉ yesterday that the gunman had opened fire indiscriminately and that both he and Mr Neilis were lucky to be alive.

“I think what it shows is the gunman had no concern for anyone who was a bystander,” he said. “He was out to just kill whoever he could as well as killing Alan . . . for the anti-drugs stance he had taken in the community.”

According to Garda sources Ryan was actively involved in extorting money from drugs gangs and gardaí believe it was his clashes with these groups that led to his death.

Mr Stewart said, “Alan had nearly 24 hours surveillance and yet his killers somehow managed to lose the gardaí.

“The gardaí took an extraordinary long time to arrive on the scene and when they did . . . they were mocking the fact that Alan had been killed.” He believed the estimated 15 minutes that had elapsed before gardaí arrived was too long.

Ryan was suspected of being a high-level Real IRA member and was being investigated for involvement in an extortion racket that saw dissident republicans force pub and business owners to hand over cash.

"Unemployed"

The gang was also believed to have forced a number of pubs to shut down and had clashed with major criminals in north Dublin.

However, Mr Stewart described his friend as "unemployed", insisting he had been targeted because of his involvement in anti-drugs campaigning in the city. Although Ryan had served jail terms for IRA activities and gun possession Mr Stewart said that he never knew that Ryan was a member of the Real IRA, "I didn't know anything about that, he [Ryan] never spoke about things like that he was a private person."

Mr Stewart, a qualified teacher, yesterday admitted that he was a member of the 32CSM but denied being involved in any paramilitary activity.

He revealed that he had refused to help gardai who are investigating the murder, which is believed to have been carried out by one of Dublin's most notorious criminal gangs.

"I have no real interest in talking to them about what happened. I don't see any real merit in cooperating with the investigation. I don't think the gardai have any real interest in catching who did this," he said.

Mr Stewart said he would not be involved in any reprisals.

He defended a controversial show of paramilitary strength at Saturday's funeral in Donaghmede when a number of shots were fired over Ryan's coffin.

Mr Stewart also confirmed that Ryan was a friend of high profile Co Armagh republican Colin Duffy, who gave a graveside oration, saying they knew each other from "republican political circles".

The Garda spokesman said an investigation was continuing into the incident at Donaghmede during which shots were discharged in the air.

The family of Alan Ryan was also critical of gardaí who they said “stood casually by” while press photographers took pictures of Ryan lying on the ground at the scene of the shooting.

They said, in their statement to RTÉ’s Prime Time, that they had made a formal complaint to the Garda Commissioner and to those media organisations that published the pictures.

Always be first with Sligo news - Never miss a story - Join us on Facebook