Revealed: Shocking aftermath of 'Mr Flashy' gang attack on James Whelan mum's house

We can also reveal how just hours after the arson attack destroyed Sonya Whelan's home and taxi - the gang-boss' crew took to social media taunting: '"Flashy is loving all of this ... James is dead and mammy is all on her own now."

The vile video - posted on social media platform TikTok, also claimed the attack had been given the green light by former criminal associates of Whelan's.

Grieving mum Sonya Whelan and a younger relative were alone in their home on Barnamore Crescent in Finglas at 2.20am when the arson attack occurred.

Sources said the pair barely managed to get out of the house before fire ripped through the semi-detached property.

The blaze also engulfed the front of Sonya's 142-registered Lexus taxi and a van parked in the driveway.

The attack on the Whelan's family home comes less than two months after 29-year-old drug dealer 'Whela' was gunned down by the Flashy crew.

A Garda forensic team were yesterday carrying out an examination of the property but a source said: "There is no doubt this was an arson attack.

"Given the timing of the attack, the occupants could have both been asleep. Had that been the case, this could easily have resulted in two deaths."

Pictures taken by this newspaper early yesterday show how, after the fire engulfed the front of the house, it rapidly spread through the inside of the property, with scorch marks clearly visible on the upstairs windows at the rear of the property.

The fire also spread to the Whelan's neighbours, engulfing the roof above their front window.

A local source yesterday described the attack as being a new low for thugs aligned with the Flashy faction.

"Attacking the home of a murder victim's grieving mother is just about as low as you can go," a local source told the Sunday World.

"Her son is barely cold in the grave and now they are targeting his grieving mum."

A source said Gardaí are determined that those responsible will be brought to justice.

Up to a dozen uniformed officers and detectives were canvassing the estate yesterday, with Gardaí seeking CCTV and dashcam footage to aid in their inquiries.

It's also feared the attack will lead to violent reprisals from slain Whelan's associates - who will be fuming Flashy's crew managed to carry out the brazen attack in their territory and escape unhindered.

Parish priest Seamus Ahern, who spoke out against the feuding criminals at Whelan's funeral Mass, yesterday told the Sunday World he had only just heard about the attack a short time earlier.

"What can anyone say?" He asked. "The obvious thing to say is to ask the people responsible to stop, but my God, what do you do here?

"I'll go down later to check on her. It is a surprise that her house was done!

"I would be very strong on what I would say, to have a family that has been bereaved, to be bereaved now in terms of their home as well, it's horrific.

"This explosion of violence is like a volcano, it will destroy everyone, but it will destroy the perpetrators as well."

Fr Ahern said he would condemn the attack in the strongest terms.

"Stop, stop, stop is all I can say really. It's hard for us locally to bare this happening again in our community.

"It's almost a personal hurt to us as a community because it is such a good place with good people.

"To have this destruction happening … it's beyond words."

Asked if he had a message for the young thugs being used to carry out attacks like these by the rival gangs, Fr Ahern said it was hard to find words "that will reach their little minds and hearts.

"They think this makes them heroes … doing things like this," he said.

"It makes them feel important.

"That's the difficulty here.

"It is being glamorised … but what do they become really?

"It's self-explosive … it blows up in their own faces and they never reach adulthood either."

Saturday morning's arson attack is the second one to have been carried targeting the homes of innocent women by the Flashy gang in Finglas within the last month.

In the previous instant, the victim similarly had no involvement in crime but was instead targeted over a personal grudge.

The Flashy crew's sickening vendetta against that woman has seen them post pictures of her and her family online - offering a 'bounty' of €10k to anyone who slashes her, her family or burns down their properties.

Whelan was gunned down and killed in the early hours of Sunday morning, April 3.

The 29-year-old, who had over 50 convictions, had fallen out with the drug dealer nicknamed 'Mr Flashy' after he set up his own drugs gang in Kippure.

The tensions between the two crews arose because Whelan was making huge money from the so-called 'Scooter gang', who were running his lucrative drugs business in the locality.

This crew of mainly teenagers and men aged in their early 20s use electric scooters to collect quantities of cannabis herb and cocaine from various stash houses and waste ground locations, which are then sold in street deals in the Finglas area.

Whelan's murder was the most significant escalation in a feud that has been brewing all year.

A formal Garda statement, concerning yesterday's arson attack, said: "Gardaí responded to reports of a fire at a residence in Finglas, Dublin 11 that occurred in the early hours of this morning, Saturday 21st May 2022. "Emergency services also attended the scene.

"Damage was caused to the entrance of the property and two vehicles parked nearby.

"The scene is currently preserved for a technical examination. "No injuries were reported by the occupants of the premises. "Investigations are ongoing."