Last night, gardai were trying to establish if the 27-year-old victim, Robert Delaney, had been singled out for attack because he had attempted to stop a fight in a pub in Tallaght in south Dublin two weeks ago.

Gardai are carrying out forensic tests on a stolen Honda Integra car, which they think may have been used by the gunman in his getaway.

Officers said Mr Delaney was not known to them, and that he came from a highly respectable family.

The attempted murder was carried out at his duplex home at Russell Rise, off Fortunestown Way, Tallaght, at around 6.30am yesterday.

The gunman rang the doorbell of his apartment, and when Mr Delaney opened a window on the third floor and looked out, he was shot in the head.

Detectives are investigating reports from neighbours that a second blast was fired before the gunman, and possibly an accomplice, made their escape from the scene.

Mr Delaney was rushed by ambulance to Tallaght hospital where he underwent treatment for serious head wounds.

The victim lives at Russell Rise with his partner and two children. He is a painter and decorator but has been recently been employed as a postman.

Gardai said there was no clear motive for the shooting but they were satisfied it was not gangland related.

Detectives were investigating a theory that the incident might have been connected to a pub row a fortnight ago, when Mr Delaney intervened in an argument between two rival groups.

Shortly after the shooting, gardai recovered the Honda, which had been abandoned on a nearby road. The car had been stolen on Tuesday night at the Naas Road.

Supt Eamon Dolan last night issued an appeal for help. He asked members of the public, who had been in the Russell Rise/Russell Estate area between 6am and 7am yesterday, or in the Fortunestown Way or Jobstown Road area, to contact them on (01) 6666032, or at the confidential number, 1800 666111.

Tom Brady and Jason O'Brien

Reproduced with kind permission of Independent Newspapers Ireland