Man killed in Dublin in suspected gang attack: Reports

Leinstar: The brother of an Irish crime boss murdered in a gang feud in 2012 has died of his injuries after being shot in his car, Irish media reported on Tuesday.

The victim, Vinny Ryan, was the brother of Alan Ryan, a suspected leading member of the dissident republican Real IRA group who was also gunned down in Dublin, the Irish Times and Irish Independent reported.

Vinny Ryan was shot by a two-man hit team on Monday afternoon after dropping off his partner and child and died a few hours later in hospital, the reports said.

The Irish Independent said two gangs were among the possible suspects in the attack.

Contacted by AFP, the police on Tuesday declined to identify the victim.

Ireland has been shaken by a series of tit-for-tat killings in recent weeks suspected to b linked to a feud between drug gangs that also have links to paramilitary organisations with their roots in the sectarian conflict in British-ruled Northern Ireland.

Alan Ryan`s killing was seen as one possible motive behind the attack by a group of heavily armed gunmen last month at a boxing weigh-in in Dublin in which one person was murdered and two more injured.

Irish newspapers published a photograph from the incident which showed two suspected attackers dressed in balaclavas and police-style uniforms and armed with assault rifles.

Another picture showed figures armed with handguns, one apparently wearing a wig, running from the scene which took place at a weigh-in for a "Clash of the Clans" boxing match.

The fatality was David Byrne, 33.

A person claiming to represent the Continuity IRA, another republican splinter group, claimed responsibility for the attack in a phone-call to the BBC.