Dougie Moran shot as a warning to criminals to isolate John Gilligan.
Former Continuity IRA man Stephen Dougie Moran was murdered as a message to the underworld to keep away from John Gilligan. Sources say that Moran was shot dead to warn criminals not to associate with the injured drug lord and to completely isolate him.
Gilligan, who is recovering in hospital after surviving an assassination attempt himself, has been labelled ‘poison’ by underworld sources.
“He crossed the line when he murdered Veronica Guerin,” a top underworld source said. “It’s a simple as that. You don’t kill journalists. He is a dead man walking.”
Moran had acted as a bodyguard to Gilligan after a botched attempt on his life last December.
Gilligan moved in to his Lucan home for a period of time and Moran transported him to meetings in his bullet proof BMW car.
It is understood that Gilligan had made links with the notorious Dundon brothers while serving his sentence in Portlaoise Prison and turned to them when he needed help.
Moran, who was related to the Limerick thugs, had acted as an enforcer for their criminal gang and he was put in contact with Gilligan to offer him the protection he needed.
However, he hadn’t been collated with Gilligan in more recent times and the pint sized drug dealer had been using wife Geraldine and family as his refuge.
Moran’s murder came as a shock on Saturday night after he was blasted in the head outside his West Dublin home.
He was walking between his bullet proof vehicle and his bullet proof home when a gunman fired at him.
It is understood that Moran’s daughter was near the scene at the time around 7.30pm. She ran screaming to neighbours saying: “They shot my Da.”
Moran has been on the Garda raidar for years and was once the number two in the Continuity IRA. He ran extortion rackets in Dublin and collected money for ‘prisoners wives’ funds from innocent businessmen.
He prided himself on being a tough Limerick gangster and bragged about his links to the Dundon crime family.
In recent times he was working as a ‘heavy’ for a number of criminals including Gilligan.
It was Moran who collected Ger Dundon when he was released from prison in recent months. Dundon stayed at his home for a number of nights before heading to the UK where he has now linked up with his sister Annabelle.
John Gilligan was said to be a very worried man last night as he weighed up his options from his hospital bed in Blanchardstown.
It is expected that Gardai will put him under surveillance when he is released in a bid to avert more bloodshed and particularly to protect innocent people he may come into contact with.
“Nobody likes Gilligan. The Gardai are getting a hard time for protecting him in hospital and they will have to deploy teams on him when he gets out. But the fact of the matter is that Gilligan is a walking target and he could be shot anywhere. The real worry is that someone may get caught in that gunfire,” a source said.
Other criminals who have met with Gilligan since his release from Portlaoise prison now believe they could be next on a hit list of terror that has Factory John’s name right at the top.
Meanwhile Gardai were examining and collecting CCTV last night in an effort to identify the gunman who killed Moran.
A full murder investigation is underway since the shooting.
