An Irishman who was shot dead in front of his family while on a Spanish holiday may have been targeted by mistake in a gangland feud.

The father of three, named locally as Trevor O'Neill, 40, from Drimnagh, south Dublin, was gunned down outside a supermarket in Majorca, shortly after 9pm on Wednesday.

It has been reported that his wife and three young children were with him at the time of the incident in Costa de la Calma, near the popular resort of Santa Ponsa.

Mr O'Neill is believed to have stopped to talk on the street with the intended target when he was shot several times in the back.

Emergency services were called to the scene and tried to resuscitate him but he died a short time later in hospital in the capital Palma, around 25 km away.

The local Guardia Civil police force are said to be hunting three suspects.

The killing is being linked a bloody feud involving the Kinahan and Hutch families, which has claimed 10 lives in less than a year.

In April, innocent bystander Martin O'Rourke died after being gunned down in Dublin's north inner city during an assassination attempt of another figure connected to the feud.

Daithi de Roiste, chairman of Dublin's joint policing committee and a councillor for Drimnagh, said the situation has spiralled out of control.

"There is shock and heartbreak right across this community at the moment that a young innocent man with a young family can just be taken away in such a callous, heinous way," he told RTE.

"Trevor was a good guy, he worked for Dublin City Council," he added.

"We have a community now saying this can happen to absolutely anybody at any time whether it is in Dublin or whether you are on your holidays.

Dublin's Department of Foreign Affairs has said it is providing consular assistance to an Irish national's family following the shooting in Majorca.