Larry Dunne (February 1948-18 May 2020) was an Irish organised crime boss and drug dealer.[1][2] He was held responsible for introducing heroin into Dublin in the 1970s.[1][2]
He was born into a large inner-city Dublin family of 14, grew up in Dolphin's Barn and became involved in petty crime.[1][3] He was sent to Daingean Reformatory like many of his brothers.[1][3]
His father Christy "Bronco" Dunne Snr. had served eighteen months in Portlaoise Prison for manslaughter in 1939.[3][4]
He began supplying heroin in Dublin in the late 1970s.[1] He had spent time in England and built up a network of connections with British drug dealers.[1] He organised young "runners" to supply heroin on streets and in flat complexes.[1] Because of this he earned the nickname "Larry doesn't carry".[1]
He made so much money that in May 1982 he was able to buy a luxury home in its own grounds in Sandyford at the foot of the Dublin Mountains.[1] Although unemployed he paid £100,000 for it – the equivalent of €1.3 million in 2020 prices.[1][5]
In June 1983 he was brought before the courts on drugs trafficking charges.[3] After a morning testimony against him he absconded.[3] He was found guilty in his absence.[3][1] While on the run he hid in Crumlin, a house of friends in County Leitrim, spent a few days in a Divine Light Mission commune, then went to the Costa del Sol followed by Portugal.[4]
He was arrested in Portugal, extradited to Ireland and served 10 years of a 14 year sentence.[3][1]
He was convicted in 2004 of dealing for an offence that occurred in 1999.[1]
He had more than 40 criminal convictions.[1]
He had been ill with lung cancer for a long time and was rushed to hospital with self-inflicted knife wounds.[2] He died in St. James's Hospital.