Close friend of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch killed in front of his partner outside home

The shooting took place in St Ronan's Drive, Clondalkin shortly after 5pm this evening as the man (62) sat in his car.

It is understood he was close friend of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch' and that he is now the tenth victim of the bloody Kinahan Hutch feud.

The victim has been named locally as Noel Kirwan.

His partner is said to be "very distressed" but unharmed.

"A lone gunman approached the car, fired a number of shots at the car and we then believe he got into a white Peugeot van,"  Superintendent Dermot Mann said.

The van was later found burned out at the rear of the Neilstown Shopping Centre.

Gardai believe there was one gunman and one driver involved in the shooting.

A firearm has been recovered at the scene.

It is believed there was ammunition left in the vehicle when it was set alight near the scene.

Gardai are appealing for any witnesses to contact them.

It is understood he may have been shot up to five times, including an gunshot injury to the head.

Gardai and emergency services rushed to the scene, but the victim was soon pronounced dead.

A small van believed to have been used in the shooting incident was found burnt out at Neilstown Shopping Centre a short time after the shooting.

Investigation teams arrived to the residential area shortly before 7pm.

The victim, who is originally from the North Inner city, is believed to have been an associate of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch.

A former low-level criminal in younger years the victim had long turned his back on crime according to locals.

"He would have grown up with some of the Hutch family, and it is my guess he was murdered because of this. It is ridiculous. There is no way he should be a target," a source said.

"This is just going to get worse now, and put everyone on edge over the Christmas, which is probably what the killers planned to achieve," said the source.

"At this stage it's seems this gang war will never end," the added.

Our pictures show the smashed window of a car which is parked in the driveway of one of the houses on the residential road.

Images also show gardaí cordoning off the scene.

Gino Kenny, a local TD in the area, said the shooting proved again that the gangland feud had "spiralled" out of control and across the city.

"This feud has spiraled out of control and into many areas of the city. The tentacles and violence of this feud really are out of control," he said.

"Someone is eventually going to have to say, down the line, that it has to stop because it's just leaving a  trail of misery across Dublin.

The shooting was "less than a minute's walk" from a local garda station he added.

More to follow