An armed garda operation continued last night at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, where two criminal brothers are being treated for gunshot injuries.

Brendan Maguire was shot three times while sitting in a car in a retail park close to the M1 in the Co Louth town on Tuesday afternoon.

His young brother, Owen Maguire, was left paralysed after he was shot in Drogheda last July.

Both shootings are linked to an ongoing feud in the area.

The brothers are described as being “at very different stages” in their treatment at the hospital, where an armed garda operation is in place to keep members of the public and staff safe.

“Brendan Maguire is expected to live. He has come through complex surgery after he was shot three times in the neck and upper body as well as receiving a related facial injury,” one source close to the investigation said.

“The big fear now, as always in this Drogheda feud, is revenge attacks.”

A massive investigation is ongoing into the attempted murder of Brendan Maguire, and gardaí have established that the black VW Passat used in the drive-by shooting had been stolen from a north Co Dublin suburb.

The Passat is suspected of being “hidden offside” while Maguire’s rivals planned the attack. After the shooting, the hit team sped off in the Passat, which was later found burnt out at the car park at Seapoint, Co Louth, at 7.15pm on Tuesday.

Gardaí have spoken to the two men who were in the white Vauxhall Astra when Maguire was shot as he sat in the passenger seat after leaving a gym.

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