Dean Dowling set to survive shooting following Fair City Christmas cliffhanger

He was gunned down by Tyler Munroe as he tried to protect Dolores Molloy and Pete Ferguson from the gun-wielding therapist who stormed into The Station bar.

Dean drifted in and out of consciousness before he was taken into surgery, leaving viewers concerned for his life.

In scenes set to air tonight, we find out that Dean survives his injuries after a life-saving operation.

However, the peace doesn’t last too long as he soon lands himself in a row with Leo over the proceeds from a watch that belonged to murdered Ritchie Lennon.

“Dean, who’s a good guy, a loyal guy, he gets in the middle of it and intervenes and he ends up the one getting shot and is left fighting for his life,” Michael Sheehan, the actor who plays Dean, told The Sunday World.

Tyler was seen earlier in the week trying to land Lucy Mallon, who he was supposedly giving therapy to, in trouble with the law for killing gangster Ritchie Lennon.

Afterwards, Lucy ends up on Carol Foley’s doorstep confessing to the murder and asking for a place to stay.

But when Lucy, eventually fled Carrigstown it emerged that she had left Richie’s watch behind in Carol’s.

“Tyler isn’t everything we are led to believe and himself and Lucy are in cahoots,” Michael said.

This is the first time Hot Pots café owner Dean has been left fighting for his life since his arrival in the show nearly 12 years ago.

“Dean has never been injured to this level of seriousness,” he said.

“There was a period where he was doing bare knuckle boxing, where Robbie, the late Karl Shiels’ character, was betting big money and putting Dean into bare knuckle fights that he was out of his depth in really, the guys were too big or experienced and Dean ended up getting absolutely pounded.”

“I think that was the closest to death that he had been previous to this.”

Dean is a bit of a Romeo in Carrigstown, having recently had a fling with ‘cougar’ Ger Lynch.

In the past he has been involved with two sets of sisters, the Molloys, Caoimhe and Dearbhla, and the Doyles, Yvonne and Suzanne.

He has also previously bedded Tracey McGuigan and Tessa Holloway down through the years.

“Dean is up there with Paul Brennan and Tommy Dillon in terms of the amount of women he’s been with and he’s definitely unlucky in love,” he laughed.

Fair City airs on RTE One tonight at 7.30pm.