A Dublin gangland criminal was in Garda custody last night being questioned in relation to the shooting of a bouncer at a nightclub early yesterday morning.
The shooting occurred at 2am outside a nightclub at the Red Cow Inn, Clondalkin.
Gardaí believe there was a row at the entrance to the club earlier in the night when a man was refused admission.
After what sources described as a "minor scuffle" the man left the scene. He came back at about 2am and, after being turned away again, opened fire on the doormen.
The victim, a 38-year-old Dubliner, sustained a gunshot wound to the neck.
He was taken by ambulance to Tallaght hospital where he remained last night. His injuries are not life threatening.
After the shooting, a car was seen speeding from the scene. About three hours later, at 5am, members of the Garda's south central taskforce chased a stolen Audi car into the Dolphin House flats complex in Kilmainham.
The driver jumped out of the car and tried to escape on foot. A number of gardaí chased him and were assaulted by the man when they caught him.
One of the gardaí sustained a broken bone in his hand. The arrested man, a 23-year-old from Kilmainham, was taken to Clondalkin Garda station where he remained last night.
The Audi he was driving has been confirmed as stolen. A search of the vehicle yielded a loaded Glock handgun which is suspected to have been the weapon used in the shooting.
The chief suspect is believed to be a prominent member of one of two gangs in Crumlin and Drimnagh whose feud has claimed 10 lives since 2001.
He has served prison sentences for violent crime and is a suspect in a number of serious shootings incidents. Five years ago he was one of three men whose car was involved in a high-speed chase with gardaí, when shots were fired at the Garda car.
The suspect for yesterday's shooting and another central figure in the Crumlin-Drimnagh feud were both jailed for their roles in the 2003 incident.
The third man, Wayne Zambra (21), was shot dead in 2006. He was killed by two gunmen as he sat in his car outside a pub on Cameron Street, Dublin.
He was suspected of supplying gardaí with information that led to the jailing of the two men and he is believed to have been killed as a result.
Gardaí were yesterday studying CCTV footage from the nightclub. They have appealed for anybody who was at the scene to contact them and are particularly anxious to speak to a man and young boy who were close to the nightclub door at the time. Gardaí in Clondalkin can be contacted on (01) 6667635.
