CRIME figures show the homicide rate for Northern Ireland as a whole is comparable to that of Dublin.
Greater Dublin has a population of around 1.8m compared to 1.86m across the north.
Although murder statistics for Belfast alone are not available, the most recent PSNI statistics show 16 murders were recorded in Northern Ireland in 2014/15, compared to 18 murders in Dublin last year.
This year has seen five murders in Belfast, including that of Dan Murray on Monday night.
In January father-of-two Conor McKee (31) was found dead at his home in the Oldpark area of north Belfast.
The following month father-of-two Stephen Carson (28) was shot in the head at a house at Walmer Street in south Belfast. Two men have been charged with his murder.
In March prison officer Adrian Ismay (52), a father-of-three, died in hospital 11 days after a bomb exploded under his van in east Belfast.
Last month father-of-four Michael McGibbon (33) died in hospital after he was shot three times in the leg in Ardoyne, north Belfast.
In Dublin, four people, including Co Tyrone dissident republican Mickey Barr, have been murdered this year in an ongoing feud between the rival Hutch and Kinahan crime gangs.
