Cell phone radio caller shot dead

By Diarmaid Fleming
BBC NI Dublin correspondent

John Daly was sitting in a taxi in Finglas

A former prisoner who went on Irish radio last summer using a mobile phone from his prison cell has been shot dead in Dublin.

John Daly, 27, was sitting in a taxi along with seven people at Cloonara Drive in Finglas at 0145 BST when a gunman shot him five times.

He had been released in September from a nine-year sentence for armed robbery.

In May, Daly came to prominence when he called a radio show using a mobile phone from his cell in Portlaoise jail.

His comments on one of RTE Radio's most popular shows - Liveline - in connection with an alleged gangland feud prompted a national furore.

It also proved to be deeply embarrassing to the former minister for justice Michael McDowell, as he was just about to embark on a strong law-and-order platform in the Irish general election in which he went on to lose his seat.

Contraband

Daly had to be placed under protection after his call prompted a massive search of jails, uncovering a large haul of contraband including mobile phones, plasma televisions and pet budgies.

He was moved to Cork Prison and then to Dublin's Mountjoy Jail before his release.

Daly was released on licence while serving his sentence and is suspected by detectives of involvement in the 2003 shooting of Liam McAllister, a nephew of Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams

He is also suspected of being involved in a number of unsolved murders.

He made the call to RTE after being returned to prison for breaking his parole conditions.

Tough new laws are now in force including five-year jail sentences and large fines for the illegal use of mobile phones in prisons.

Police believe that mobile phones are used by some gangland leaders to direct criminal activities, including drugs deals, assaults, intimidation and even assassinations, from their prison cells.

Economic prosperity has also brought a growing drugs problem, with cocaine use in particular found among all social classes.

Bitter feuds, particularly in Dublin, have sparked several gangland killings among criminals involved in the drugs trade in recent years, in a country where the homicide rate still remains relatively low by international standards.

A number of innocent people have also lost their lives in double killings, in some cases shot by assassins because they were potential witnesses to killings.