MEET 'the Miner', the ruthless thug who has vowed to become the country's gangster

Despite being born with a silver spoon in his mouth,this Co. Wicklow-based criminal has become one of Ireland's most feared mobsters in less than six months.

Gardai have been alarmed at the growth of the former sports star and believe he has a net-work of 50 drug dealers working for him and that he has started to expand into Dublin.

Detectives have linked 'the Miner' to the murder of a rival drug dealer and believe he drove one of his key enforcers to commit suicide last week.

To his neighbours, the criminal,who is in his 40s, leads a respectable existence with his idyllic family and fancy car.
However, his name is enough to provoke terror in the most hardened of criminals in Co. Wicklow, where he has grown his drug dealing-empire.

Punishment

This is because he has organised punishment beatings against several dozen drug addicts who have fallen behind with payments.He specialises in dishing out beatings which have shocked gardai in their brutality.

The thug, who had links to slain IRA boss Alan Ryan, has become a big player since Ryan was whacked last September and is bragging to friends that he will be the most notorious gangland figure the country has ever seen.

'The Miner' has made sure that he has the firepower to support his growth and masterminded the robbery of a gun store on the eve of Ryan's funeral. His minions,including Philip 'Philly' O'Toole,broke into the shop in Ashford,Co. Wicklow and made off with 29 lethal rifles and shotguns.
There have been a series of shooting incidents in Wicklow since September with addicts who owe drug debts.

The latest drive-by occurred on the evening of March 3 when a round from a shotgun was fired into a house in Wicklow town.

'The Miner's' key enforcer Jonathan 'Birdbrain' Martin fired the shots, while Terence Keogh, who had only recently been released from prison after serving a sentence for manslaughter, was in the jeep.
After carrying out the shooting 24-year-old Martin drove on the Nll but encountered a garda speed checkpoint opposite RTE.

The officers searched the vehicle and found a sawn-off shotgun underneath the front passenger's seat and the pair were arrested.
When they were taken to Donnybrook garda station in Dublin Martin started shouting that 'the Miner' would be furious that the pair were arrested.

When he was released from custody Martin went off the rails and the following day he took an over-dose of prescription medication.
Gardai initially feared the dead man might have been forcibly fed the drugs to stop him from talking,but now believe that he overdosed as he was so scared of what 'the Miner' would do to him.

The Miner is the prime suspect in the murder of his former pal 'Philly' O'Toole. The pair operated as partners in the drugs trade, but 'the Miner' and O'Toole, a 33 year-old father-of-two, fell out late last year after several of the 29 stolen guns went missing.

In January 'the Miner' lured O'Toole to an isolated forested area in the Wicklow Mountains on the pretext that they were going to put their past difficulties behind them. His body was recovered two weeks later following extensive searches by gardai.

Invested

The Miner has links to several dissident groups including the Real IRA and the INLA. He was very close to Alan Ryan, but since the Real IRA's Northern leader-ship have started to clean up the organisation he has distanced himself from the group.

He has had several criminal convictions overturned on appeal and has several convictions for minor offences.
The Miner has invested in several large cash businesses over the last two months, but he has attracted the attention of the Criminal Assets Bureau, which is set to launch an investigation into his activities.