Notorious gangster John "The Coach" Traynor has died.
The 73-year-old - an associate of John Gilligan - was suffering from cancer and passed away in Kent in the UK on Sunday.
Funeral arrangements are now being made for the career criminal, who fled Ireland after the murder of brave journalist Veronica Guerin in 1996.
The last time he came back here was to lay his father to rest in February 2018 at St Corban’s cemetery in Naas, Co Kildare.
It is not known if his remains will be brought back here yet.
Traynor had never been charged in connection with the killing of Guerin.
But gardai to this day believe he is the man who tipped off Gilligan that Ms Guerin would be on her way back from Naas Courthouse, Co Kildare, on the day she was shot.
Traynor fled Ireland after the killing and in 1997 he and his criminal associate Brian Meehan were arrested in Amsterdam over the shooting.
Unlike Meehan, who was extradited back to Ireland and convicted of the murder, Traynor was released from custody and opted to stay abroad.
He was released from prison in 2012, having served a sentence for his involvement in a scam involving bearer bonds.
He remained in the UK and when tracked down in 2013, Traynor claimed: "When Gilligan organised that murder he f****d everything up for all of us.
"The minute it happened I knew my life was over."
