Former ‘major gangland player' now running mafia-themed restaurant in Dublin
Lyons said he 'worked his ass off' to get the restaurant, above, opened
Shane Lyons and his La Cosa Nostra restaurant on Thomas Street in Dublin
A convicted criminal who was previously classified by gardaí as being a major gangland player is now running a mafia-themed restaurant in the capital's south inner city.
Shane Lyons (57), who has a number of convictions, including for drugs trafficking and viciously assaulting two women, denied that his latest business venture was a 'front' for the proceeds of organised crime when he was contacted by the Sunday World.
Located in Thomas Street, Lyons's restaurant is called La Cosa Nostra, which is the original name of the Sicilian mafia.
Lyons said he 'worked his ass off' to get the restaurant, above, opened
The interior of the establishment features posters of multiple American mafia films and TV shows such as The Sopranos and Goodfellas, but Lyons insisted it was all 'tongue in cheek'.
'It is absolutely not a front' and 'is a 100pc legitimate business', Lyons said when asked was there any crime involvement with the business.
He insisted he was not being taken advantage of by any gang.
He is being monitored, make no mistake about that
Sources said gardaí continue to 'keep a very close eye' on Lyons, who said he was no longer involved in criminality.
'He is being monitored, make no mistake about that,' a source said.
No one else who works with, or is connected to, the restaurant has any involvement in criminality.
Lyons said he 'trades a few cars' as well as owning the restaurant, which employs 12 staff, whom he described as 'amazing'.
At one stage, Lyons was one of the most under-threat criminals in Ireland's gangland scene amid tensions with some of the country's most dangerous criminals.
In August 2009, Lyons, who was described as a dodgy car dealer, ended up in a dangerous dispute with suspected gangland serial killer Eamon 'The Don' Dunne over a car, which led to a pipe-bomb attack at his then home in Rathfarnham.
Gardaí received intelligence that Dunne was planning to murder Lyons, but 'The Don' was shot dead first in a Kinahan cartel-sanctioned killing in a Cabra pub in April 2010.
Eamon 'The Don' Dunne
Lyons was released from Mountjoy Prison in August, 2012, where he had served a four-year sentence for assaulting his former partner and her friend during a night out.
He was previously caught by gardaí importing IR£160,000 of cannabis from South Africa in 2000 – an offence for which he received a four-year jail sentence the following year.
Now known as Sean O'Liathain, which is the Irish version of his name, Lyons explained that gardaí had advised him to change his name a number of years ago and that is the name he gives to officers when he is stopped by them.
La Cosa Nostra opened last October and Lyons told the Sunday World that he 'worked his absolute arse off' to get the restaurant up and running after two years of planning issues.
He claimed his only recent interactions with gardaí were for being stopped for speeding offences and 'stuff like that'.
Referring to media reports from 13 years ago that were based on information gathered by gardaí when Lyons's life was under threat, he described them as 'absolute tripe'.
It was reported that he was in a dispute with mob boss Troy Jordan (55), who has been linked to criminal figures including John and Geraldine Gilligan, and Martin 'The Viper' Foley over a €1m debt.
Denying there was any debt, Lyons said the two men had no issue with each other and even engaged in friendly slagging at a mutual friend's funeral.
The police came to me and they said whatever is going on there you need to be careful
However, he did admit he had been in a dispute with Eamon 'The Don' Dunne, who was linked to 17 gangland murders before he was assassinated.
'Eamon Dunne was a f**king scumbag, an absolute toe-rag and the police came to me and they said whatever is going on there you need to be careful. I went 'I don't give a f**k, they have my car, I want it back,' he said explaining that an associate of Dunne had stolen his car.
He also alleged that a former criminal who he was in dispute with stole everything from his house while he was in jail, including 'all his jocks', his son's DVDs and his parrot.
Lyons also spoke about how he fought off four fellow inmates who stabbed him 14 times in an attack in Mountjoy Prison just before his release in 2012. 'I battered the young fellas,' he said.
The four-year sentence he was serving at that time related to an attack that left his former girlfriend Fiona Kelly fearing for her life.
He also brutally assaulted her friend Kerry Lee Ball.
Ms Kelly described Lyons during the attack as 'the face of pure evil'.
Shane Lyons and his La Cosa Nostra restaurant on Thomas Street in Dublin
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