Locals in Finglas are afraid a suspected gangland shooting over the weekend will lead to revenge attacks.
23-year-old Brandon Ledwidge was shot in the driveway of his home on Barry Drive in Finglas shortly before 7pm on Saturday night.
He was treated at the scene before being taken to Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, local Sinn Féin Councillor Anthony Connaghan said the whole community was “shocked and saddened” at the murder.
“There was a period of relative calm and quiet after a drugs feud in the area,” he said.
“So, this was out of the blue and when I got the text shortly after it happened, I was going, ‘This can’t be happening now.’
“But unfortunately, it did.”
Emergency services and Gardaí attend the scene. 18/11/2023. Image: RollingNews.ieCllr Connaghan praised the response of Gardaí but said people are extremely worried there could be more shootings in the near future.
“As soon as there’s a shooting, people think there’s going to be revenge and this will lead into a cycle,” he said.
“In fairness, the Gardaí have done their best; they have been around visually, overtly and covertly, they’ve been doing operations.
“But it’s not just Garda resources that’s needed in the area… family resource units, youth services, addiction services, they’ve all been cut to the bone over the years.”
A Garda car outside the home of Brandon Ledwige. 19/11/2023. Image: RollingNews.ieCllr Connaghan said more funding for community programmes would help make a difference in the local area.
“We’ve had different schemes run through some of the youth services in the area,” he said.
“One being an employability assistance programme, which would have taken young lads in, trained them and got them ready for a job.
“[It] did computer courses and was proven to be successful in the area but the funding was cut.”
Forensic officers have been examining the scene and detectives are appealing for mobile-phone, dashcam and CCTV footage.
Main image: Brandon Ledwidge.
