A 13-year-old boy is being held in police custody in connection with the death of a man shot outside his home in Dublin last night

Aidan O'Kane, 50, a father of one, died after he chased a group of teenagers whom he believed had thrown eggs at his home.

Mr O'Kane, who repaired cars and motorbikes for locals, had fallen foul of a gang of teenagers who local politicians said were terrorising the neighbourhood. They had been called to the house that Mr O'Kane shared with his 25-year-old son on Saturday night after a vehicle was damaged.

The 13-year-old was arrested early this morning at his home in the working-class district of East Wall and is being questioned at Store Street garda station.

Two other teenagers, both aged 15, are among four more people who were detained in relation to the investigation.

Sinn Féin said that East Wall residents had been “crying out for action in recent months as the area slid further out of control”.

Christy Burke, a Dublin city councillor, said: “People on the street will tell you that youngsters in the area are regularly carrying guns with them. We cannot allow such a situation to continue. We need action.”

He called for a “robust” garda response, including increased patrols and the use of CCTV in flashpoint areas.

Gardaí have appealed to the community in East Wall — in particular to parents who may have information — to contact them.

They are urging parents to talk to their children if they think that they may have been in the area between 6.30pm and 7.30pm on Sunday and to bring them to Store Street garda station if they have any information.

Mr O'Kane was shot in the stomach in a laneway after he chased teenagers from outside his home. It is understood he was shot once with a handgun at about 7.15pm. He died of his injuries 30 minutes later the Mater Hospital in Dublin.

The killing was the 20th gun murder this year in the Republic and came less than a month after Shane Geoghegan, 28, a rugby captain, was shot dead outside his home in a case of mistaken identity.

Mr Geoghegan’s murder caused a national outpouring of anger about the rise of gangland violence and guns culture. The majority of murders are the result of violence between feuding criminal gangs.

The main opposition Fine Gael party called on the Government to order a six-month crackdown on guns and knives and to back his party’s calls for ten-year sentences for those convicted of carrying weapons as well as a new offence of not reporting lost or stolen firearms or ammunition.

“Other measures that Dermot Ahern, the Minister for Justice, must bring in to stem the rising tide of violence include increased use of curfew orders, and an immediate reversal of intake cuts at the Garda training college,” Charlie Flanagan, Fine Gael’s justice spokesman, said.

The opposition Labour Party accused the Government of failing to cope with the upsurge in violent crime. “A Government which cannot protect its citizens as they go about their daily lives or relax in the privacy of their homes is seriously failing in its duty,” a party spokesman said.

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