http://www.herald.ie/news/splinter-group-set-to-reform-despite-threats-30275721.html

Splinter group set to re-form despite threats.

BY KEN FOY – 15 MAY 2014 12:00 AM

A REPUBLICAN splinter group whose members have been targeted by criminal rivals is trying to re-form, only three months after it disbanded.

Irish Republican Voice (IRV), which is led by Rathfarnham man James McDonagh, is on a recruitment drive after the organisation was previously torn apart by in-fighting.

McDonagh (36), who has been officially warned by detectives that there is an active threat against his life, has established a new cuman in Dublin.

ACTIVISTS

He and some of his associates have fallen foul of criminal gangs and other dissident republicans.

In a statement to the

“We will endeavour to grow the organisation, and to that end we have been in touch with like-minded republicans and political activists in a number of counties with a view of establishing a truly 32-county political alternative to the current establishment.”

Sources say the activities of the group will be closely monitored by the garda’s Special Detective Unit.

Republican sources say McDonagh, who was a close pal of murdered Real IRA boss Alan Ryan, “isolated” some other members of the IRV because of “his tactics”.

Gardai have been working on the theory that a republican who was shot at outside his Ballyfermot home early last month was targeted because he was pals with McDonagh and other IRV members.

Darren Whelan (26) is believed to be making a good recovery after he was shot in the back by a lone gunman in Lally Road, Ballyfermot, at 8.40pm on April 2.

Mr Whelan, who is not classified as a criminal, has regularly been spotted in the company of former associates of Ryan, including at fundraising events.

protests

Detectives believe he was targeted because of who his friends are.

The IRV took part in several protests in Dublin over the past year, including one outside the Dail which led to scuffles with gardai.

For the year that it was previously in place, the IRV was seen as the political wing of a new armed group calling itself Saoirse na hEireann, which was blamed for shootings in North Dublin.

This group was also stood down in February.

kfoy@herald.ie

Never heard of the IRV before

http://www.sundayworld.com/top-stories/crime-desk/forces-of-evil

http://www.sundayworld.com/top-stories/crime-desk/dissident-group-splits

http://www.herald.ie/news/republican-fears-im-next-on-hitlist-after-pal-was-shot-30174137.html

http://www.thestar.ie/star/caf-gangster-group-hit-back-at-dissidents-46261/

CAF was set up in late 2010 to counter extortion of crims by Ryan and his pals.

They said they attempted to murder five members of the now defunct Irish Republican Voice group, linked to Ryan, in north Dublin last year.

Don, just a few links on IRV as you will see C.A.F. said they attacked them last year.

A person with links to IRV was shot in Dublin the other week.

Whelan shot over links to republican mob.
http://www.sundayworld.com/top-stories/crime-desk/irish-republican-voice-feud-linked-to-shooting

Yes it seems to be people with links to Real IRA Alan Ryan group.

http://www.herald.ie/news/gardai-on-alert-as-rira-plans-fertiliser-bomb-30278355.html

Gardai on alert as RIRA plans fertiliser bomb.

So many of these new splinter groups forming

This IRV group was out before so must be getting back again.

http://www.sundayworld.com/top-stories/crime-desk/penguin-wanted-git-hit

Kinahan mob took out Zambra as favour to Mitchell.

Gardai investigating the murder of Christopher ‘Git’ Zambra believe that he may have been killed by the Christy Kinahan gang on behalf of George ‘the Penguin’ Mitchell.

The Sunday World can reveal that reclusive drugs lord Mitchell is in the frame for 39-year-old Zambra’s assassination in revenge for the dead man ordering the murder of his relation John ‘Champagne’ Carroll.

Although Git Zambra was cleared of the murder of Carroll, who was shot dead in a pub in the coombe in Dublin in February 2009, there is little doubt Zambra organised the slaying because he did not want to pay Carroll money he owed him for drugs.

Zambra made a lot of enemies because of his alleged involvement in five gangland murders. However, by setting up the murder of John Carroll he annoyed Moroccan-based Mitchell, who was related to the dead man.

Mitchell was a cousin of Carroll and is known to have been furious about the way he was shot dead simply because he went looking for a legitimate debt.

Gardai are convinced that the Kinahan mob actually planned the murder and franchised a Dundalk-based assassin who has been linked to three gangland murders in less than two years. The former Provo is described as being “ice cold” with a gun and gardai say Zambra’s murder was “highly professional”.

Zambra arrived at his sister’s house on Cooley Road in Drimnagh, Dublin, last Sunday afternoon and his Audi was blocked in by a Ford Focus and Nissan Qashqai.

A gunman wearing a ski mask opened fire and struck Zambra several times. He escaped through the passenger side of the Audi and ran up the road four houses away from where he was parked.

He was struck by a bullet in the back. While he lay in the garden, two shots were fired into his face. He was shot a total of six times – four bullets in the back and two to the face.

As Zambra ran up the street, the Qashqai drove after him and a second gun was passed to the ski-masked assassin. The two guns were used in the slaying. The Glock 9mm and Smith and Wesson .38 were found in the Qashqai that was burnt-out a short distance away on Benmadigan Road.



Gardai are aware of the potential George Mitchell (pictured above) link to Zambra’s murder, but also have information that the dead man was involved in several heated rows recently with Paul Rice, Kinahan’s enforcer in Dublin.

Christy Kinahan and George Mitchell are old friends and still cooperate in drug dealing. The Penguin lives in a fortified estate in Morocco and has not been seen in public for more than a decade.

Gardai have no doubt that Kinahan would have been more than happy to arrange Zambra’s murder at Mitchell’s request and certainly has the means to do it. His gang has drawn up a gangland hit list, murdering four people so far this year.

Zambra was a cocaine dealer who was involved in a business relationship with a ‘Mr Big’ from the northside Dublin suburb of Clontarf, who was responsible for the murder of Real IRA boss Alan Ryan in September 2012.

The pair were described as being ‘thick as thieves’ and the possibility that the Real IRA could have been involved in the murder in revenge for Ryan has not been dismissed either, although it is thought unlikely.

The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) was in the process of seizing Zambra’s house and it is known that he had money problems.

He was a notorious ladies’ man and was caught in bed with the long-term partner of a notorious jailed murderer four years ago. The killer was known to be outraged over this but his lover has since moved on to another man, so this row had petered out.

Zambra has been linked to at least five gangland assassinations. He was an organiser of killings and was never a trigger-man himself.

Gardai believe he planned the double murder of car dealer Brian Downes and his innocent employee Eddie Ward in Walkinstown, west Dublin, in October 2007. The duo were murdered in a row over the laundering of money.

The following month, Downes’s business partner and best friend Sean McMahon was gunned down in Tallaght. Zambra is also thought to have been responsible for killing John Berney in December 2012.

The career criminal was himself a suspect in two gangland murders and was shot dead over vague suspicions that he had been having an affair with an ex-girlfriend of Zambra’s.

Zambra was aware that his life was under threat and routinely wore a bullet-proof vest when he was in areas he was not familiar with. He was not wearing one when he was killed, which has led gardai to suspect he may have been set up.

His car was new and he was not regularly seen driving it, so he was unlikely to have been under surveillance for a long period of time.

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/crime/murdered-crime-boss-christopher-git-3559279

Murdered crime boss Christopher “Git” Zambra had identical BMWs in bid to foil assassins.

free photo upload. Gardai have applied for an exclusion order to keep mob boss ‘Fat’ John McCarthy’s son out of Moyross, claiming he is recruiting children into the drugs trade.

It is alleged that David McCarthy (20), from Cliona Park, has been involved in shootings, stabbings, intimidation, coercion, and damage to property in the Limerick east area.

Last week, Limerick City Council tenancy enforcement officer Patrick McDermott told the District court that McCarthy jnr had been the subject of a litany of complaints.

He said between January 2013 and May 2014, Limerick City Council received 10 separate complaints from more than 20 people relating to incidents of criminal and anti-social behaviour across the estate.

The allegations against David McCarthy include arson, threatening and intimidating residents, shots fired at a number of houses – which were linked to an ongoing feud in the area – as well as forcing young children to sell drugs.

Despite being barely out of his teens, McCarthy jnr is regarded as a dangerous criminal and has already served three years in prison for weapons offences.

During his time behind bars, he appeared in an infamous photograph in the Midlands Prison where a group of Limerick criminals – including killer Noel ‘Frog Eyes’ Stanners – got drunk on jailhouse hooch.

He is the son of ‘Fat’ John McCarthy, who is regarded as Limerick’s biggest drug dealer and who is currently serving 14 years in prison for heroin trafficking.

In court last week McDermott also said that in the most recent alleged offence on May 2, McCarthy jnr and others tried to destroy CCTV cameras which were only erected two weeks ago.

Mr McDermott said there was also an allegation that McCarthy was involved in a serious assault in which two people were stabbed.

A parent had complained to the council that her son had been forced into carrying a knife because of an alleged threat made to him.

It was alleged that, on a number of occasions, McCarthy drove a motorbike at speed through green open areas in the estate.

Mr McDermott said many residents who had made complaints to the council were afraid they would be subjected to violence if their names leaked out.

The court was told that proceedings for the exclusion order against McCarthy jnr began in September 2013, when the council wrote to his mother, who owns the house.

However, during the application, Judge Eugene O’Kelly remarked that one of the incidents outlined in the case is subject to criminal proceedings in the coming weeks in Limerick District Court.

He said in the interests of fairness and fair procedures it would be better to deal with the criminal matter first.

Judge O’Kelly adjourned the application until June 6.

Last April, David McCarthy and his pal Kurt Ryan were allegedly key players in a night of rioting – described by one community activist as the “worst in Moyross’s history”.

During the violence, more than 12 balaclava-clad thugs on horses attacked gardai, smashed up cars, thrashed a local school and vandalised a church.

The masked men also, bizarrely, drove a herd of cows and a number of pigs through the Pineview area of Moyross.

The gang also caused thousands of euros of damage to nearby St Nessan’s Community College, where more windows were smashed and a door was broken.

Garda chiefs were forced to draft in members of the Emergency Response Unit in a bid to quell the disturbances after unarmed officers came under attack.

picture uploader. A man serving a life sentence for murder told the Special Criminal Court that he has gotten “a world of misery” for making a statement against his first cousin, who is on trial charged with the murder of Limerick businessman Roy Collins.

Anthony “Noddy” McCarthy was today (Thursday) cross-examined after giving evidence in the trial of Wayne Dundon (36), of Lenihan Avenue, Prospect and Nathan Killeen (24) of Hyde Road, Prospect, who have pleaded not guilty to the murder of 35-year-old Roy Collins at Coin Castle Amusements, Roxboro Road Shopping Centre on April 9, 2009.

McCarthy (32) is serving a life sentence for the murder of Kieran Keane in Limerick in January 2003. His brother Christopher McCarthy (31) gave evidence at the trial last week.

In his direct evidence McCarthy told the court that while they were in Wheatfield prison together on the morning of Roy Collins’ murder, his first cousin Wayne Dundon told him he had “ordered James Dillon to go kill Roy Collins”.

Under cross-examination by counsel for Wayne Dundon, Mr Remy Farrell SC, McCarthy said it would not surprise him that other witnesses in the case had said the target of the attack was Steve Collins, the father of Roy Collins.

Put to him that Gareth Collins had told the court Wayne Dundon tried to “strong arm him” in to participating in the shooting of Steve Collins and the prosecution case was that this was a plan to kill Steve Collins, yet in his evidence the witness was aware Roy Collins was the target before it even happened, McCarthy said that he heard “Roy Collins”.

He told Mr Farrell this was not a mistake on his part and was not a lie he had made up, adding: “if it was we wouldn’t make these mistakes would we”.

Mr Farrell put it to McCarthy that he was somebody in a “desperate situation in prison” who would “dangle tidbits in front of the guards” and who only had his own interest.

McCarthy replied that it was “not only ridiculous, it’s very insulting” to suggest he would put his own life and the lives of his family in danger to “make it look good” for his prison programme.

When asked in re-examination by counsel for the prosecution, Mr Michael O’Higgins SC, if he had gotten anything in return for making his statement, McCarthy replied: “Yeah, a world of misery”.

Asked if there had been any improvement in his circumstances in prison, McCarthy replied: “No, everything has gotten worse for men and it doesn’t look like it’s getting any better”.

The trial continues before presiding judge Ms Justice Iseult O’Malley.

free photo upload. A murder trial has heard that the accused man felt ‘relieved’ since the death of Shane Rossiter in Tipperary on 17 of October 2012.

Maurice Power (31) of Dranganbeg, Kilmoyler, Cahir has pleaded not guilty to murdering Shane Rossiter in Co. Tipperary on October 17.

Mr Anthony Sammon SC prosecuting confirmed with Detective Garda Adrian Cooke that the accused told gardai ‘it ends now with him gone and me going to jail – no one else gets hurt.’

When asked about the weapon used, the accused had said ‘its gone and it’ll never be used again. Its in bits’. When asked by gardai how he had disposed of the weapon he had said ‘with a grinder’.

Asked how he felt since he shot Shane, the accused had replied ‘very relieved, like a serious weight was lifted. I feel safer and happier’.
Under cross examination by Mr Dominic McGinn SC defending, Detective Garda Larry Burgan, was asked about time spent with the accused outside formal interviews.

“What jury will not have realised is that outside the video recorded interviews you and other guards had a great deal of time with Mr Power,” said Mr McGinn.

“The gap between interview 6 and 7 was a watershed moment.”

Mr McGinn put it to Detective Burgan that interaction with Mr Power outside normal interviews had involved 'bullying and cajoling'.

Detective Burgan rejected Mr McGinns assertion saying ‘everything he said was of his own free will’.
The trial continues before a jury of seven women and five men with Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy presiding.

image ru.
Shootings: Gardai have sealed off the areas for technical examinations

A man in the capital has been injured following two separate shooting incidents.

Shots were fired at two houses in separate attacks in the capital.

Just after 11pm last night, shots were fired at a house on Lissadell Road in Drimnagh, close to where Christopher Zambra was shot dead two weeks ago.

Three people were in the house at the time but nobody was injured.

A short time later shots were fired into a house on Walkinstown Drive.

There were five people in the house at the time and one man was injured.

He was rushed to St James Hospital where his injuries were described as non life threatening. He has since been released.

Gardai sealed off the scenes for technical examinations and said a silver car may have been used in the first incident.

They have opened an investigation and have appealed to anybody with information to contact them on 1800 666111.

image sharing sites.
The grow house, discovered in Ennis, County Clare

Two arrested following discovery of 118 cannabis plants worth €98,000

In a statement from the Garda Press Office it was revealed the raid was carried out by the local drugs unit.

"As part of on-going intelligence-led operations targeting the sale and supply of drugs in the Clare area, Gardaí from the Divisional Drugs Unit, on foot of a warrant, have searched a house and seized a quantity of drugs and arrested two men at an address in Ballymaley, Ennis, Co.Clare. The search took place on Monday 19 May 2014 at approximately 12:30pm," it stated

"During the course of the search, Gardaí seized 118 cannabis plants and a quantity of cannabis herb with an estimated value of €98,000 (pending analysis). Two men, one aged in his 30s and one in his 40s were arrested at the scene and detained at Ennis Garda station under the provisions of Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996," it added.

"One of the men was later released and a file is to be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions. The second man was charged and is due to appear before Kilrush District Court this afternoon, 20 May 2014."

photo share. Divided they fall - how former Dundon cohorts turned on Murder Inc mobsters in court

Wayne Dundon's empire has crumbled

Nathan Killeen and sister Ciara have been loyal to the Dundons

Roy Collins was innocent victim

John Dundon is in jail

Ger Dundon has been released from prison

Dessie Dundon was convicted of the murder of drug boss Kieran Keane

Christopher McCarthy gave evidence

They were a band of ‘brothers’, their force and terrifying reputation as much cemented by their fists as by the unbreakable loyalty they held for one another.

They believed their bond would survive the test of time and anything that crossed their path, but this week, in the Special Criminal Court, the vicious drugs mob known as Murder Inc. lay exposed in all its divided glory.

Gone are the loyalties, the blood ties that once held the gang together like glue, and even the mortal sin of gangland, co-operating with the gardai, is being openly flouted.

The cast of characters in the courtroom veer from a viper’s nest of former allies, to the innocent civilians caught up in their dirty world.

In the dock are Nathan Killeen and Wayne Dundon, denying the murder of barman Roy Collins.

As witnesses take the stand, they snigger and glare, intimidate with their whispers and try to look as mean as they can.

Christopher McCarthy, Gareth Collins and his sister Lisa, once loyal Dundon cohorts, have already given evidence against their former masters.

April Collins, and the convicted killer Anthony ‘Noddy’ McCarthy, the brother of Christopher, have yet to take the stand.

In the court sits Steve Collins and his family, the man who was the alleged intended target of the April 2009 hit.

Tanned from their new life in the U.S., where they were forced to move after years of intimidation in their native Limerick, they sit tall and dignified.

Wayne Dundon once headed up the traveller gang – the McCarthy-Dundons – which ruled with an iron fist from their hub at Ballinacurra Weston.

The Dundons and McCarthys are cousins, while the Collins family were tight associates. They had relationships with and provided muscle for the mob.

Wayne is the eldest of the Dundon family and is currently in jail for threatening to kill members of the Collins family.

Two of his brothers are serving life sentences – Dessie for the murder of rival drug boss Kieran Keane and John for the murder of rugby player Shane Geoghegan.

Younger brother Ger, who has just been released from prison after serving a five-year sentence for violent disorder, was once the partner of April Collins, a key prosecution witness and sister of Gareth.

Kenny jnr, who has no criminal convictions, lives in the U.K. and is in close contact with sister Annabel, who is at large and wanted on a European Arrest Warrant for threatening to kill.

And that’s just the Dundons

The McCarthys were already a recognised crime family in the city, and had gone to war with drug dealer Kieran Keane and his mob, before the arrival of their cousins from England.

Anthony ‘Noddy’ McCarthy got the back-up needed when Wayne and Co. moved back from London.

Within a short period of time Eddie Ryan, the enforcer for drug boss Christy Keane and his brother Kieran, was gunned down in the city’s Moose Bar. His death would kick-start a decade of violence that would claim the lives of almost 20 people, including innocent Roy Collins.

Nathan Killeen became a loyal servant of the group as his sister Ciara married John Dundon. Both Ciara and Ann Casey, Wayne’s wife, have been present every day during the trial. It’s the last bastion of loyalty they have left.

The first three witnesses have give evidence that points to the State case that Wayne Dundon ordered the murder and Killeen was there when it was carried out.

First into the witness stand this week was Gareth Collins. He says he was offered €20k to take part in killing publican Steve. He claims that on the day of the killing, Nathan Killeen and James Dillon called to his sister’s house, but he told Killeen he was not getting involved.

His sister Lisa told the court that Gareth was saying: “No, no I don’t want to do it.”

Mr McCarthy said that on April 9, 2009, he was at home with Lisa and Gareth Collins when Nathan Killeen and James Dillon called to the house in the morning.

He said Nathan Killeen “didn’t look happy”. The pair, he said, made a phonecall and were upset afterwards.

Dundon and Killeen’s defence teams accused McCarthy of being part of a conspiracy to stitch them up. The non-jury trial continues.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/gangster-zambras-death-like-episode-of-lovehate-30302099.html

Gangster Zambra's death 'like episode of Love/Hate'
Five theories, from revenge to a jealous lover, for Zambra killing.

http://www.herald.ie/news/five-arrested-over-keg-bomb-find-at-border-30305156.html

Five arrested over keg bomb find at border.

BY LUKE BYRNE – 26 MAY 2014 12:00 AM

DISSIDENT republicans are 
believed to be behind a 
suspected bomb that was discovered in a vehicle near the Border.

Five men were arrested after the device was discovered in Kilcurry, Co Louth, following an operation by the garda special detective unit.

A beer keg was found in the back of a car with a number of components used in improvised explosive devices.

Gardai believe the five, 
who are being questioned in garda stations in Dundalk 
and Drogheda, are linked to the dissident republican grouping Oglaigh na hEireann.

“During the course of this operation, five men were arrested ranging in ages from early 70s to mid-50s.

“They are detained at Drogheda and Dundalk garda stations under the provisions of Section 30 Offences Against the State Act.

“A suspect device was recovered during this operation,” a garda statement said.

The men can be held for up to three days.

armed

A similar-type device was seized in Lucan last week.

Residents of the Finnstown Country House Hotel were forced to spend more than five hours outside the hotel 
overnight after gardai found a milk churn bomb armed and ready for use in a car with Northern Ireland registration plates.

The alarm was raised after a 999 emergency call was made to gardai.

The bomb contained 50lb of fertilizer and had a timer attached.

Gardai arrested a man in a follow-up operation in inner city Dublin.

General manager of the 
hotel, Gavin Creaton, confirmed there was a “full house” at the time the alarm was raised about the device.

He said he had undertaken the appropriate measures in order to ensure the safety of the hotel’s guests.

http://www.newstalk.ie/POLL:-Do-you-care-less-about-a-murder-if-its-linked-to-gangland-crime

f you can't view this poll, please click here.

This is the eighth violent death in Ireland so far this year but it received little attention on the front pages of the country’s broadsheets this morning.

It’s alleged that a group called the United Criminal Alliance have claimed responsibility for the murder of Michael Devoy, who had just been released from Portlaoise prison.

This morning Ivan Yates asked why politicians some groups of society are allowed to act without impunity:

image upload no size limit


Sinn Fein's Party leader Gerry Adams voted for local and European Elections at Doolargy National School in Ravensdale, County Louth, Ireland, on Friday. Adams was arrested recently based on interviews reportedly given for the Boston College oral history project.


Boston College will contest a new legal bid by British law enforcement to seize the entire trove of interviews from the university’s Belfast Project, university officials said Friday, joining a renewed battle over the controversial archive.

In a statement Thursday, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said it would seek to obtain the collection of interviews with former members of militia groups that clashed during the decades-long conflict known in Northern Ireland as the Troubles. But police did not specify a course of action or timetable.

“Detectives in Serious Crime Branch have initiated steps to obtain all the material from Boston College as part of the Belfast project,” the Police Service said. “This is in line with PSNI’s statutory duty to investigate fully all matters of serious crime, including murder.”

Related
5/18: BC reflects on missteps in Northern Ireland project
A spokesman for Boston College said Friday that the university had not received any information about the move to acquire the archives. But the spokesman said the blanket request for all materials, including interviews with more than a dozen members of a militia group loyal to Britain, seemed aimed at rebutting critics who have accused British authorities of using the archives for political purposes.

“The [Police Service of Northern Ireland] has been criticized for only pursuing the interviews of former IRA members,” said spokesman Jack Dunn. “This appears to be an attempt to deflect criticism that their actions were politically motivated.”

A spokesman for the Police Service declined to comment.

From 2001 to 2006, researchers interviewed former members of the Irish Republican Army, who sought a united Ireland, and former members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, a paramilitary group that wanted Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom.

Dunn said Boston College would fight to protect the interviews and hoped that US authorities would reject the legal request.

“Since the first subpoenas were issued in 2011, Boston College has pursued legal, political, and diplomatic efforts to oppose the effort of British law enforcement to obtain the interviews in an effort to protect the enterprise of oral history and the peace agreement in Northern Ireland,” Dunn said. “We will continue to do so and hope that the State Department and the Department of Justice will reject this latest request.”

A spokeswoman for the US attorney’s office in Massachusetts declined to comment.

Former militia members consented to interviews for the oral history project with the assurance that their statements would be kept confidential until their death. But Northern Ireland authorities, using a mutual legal assistance treaty with the United States, pursued the interviews as potential evidence of past crimes.

The treaty requires the nations to share information that could aid in criminal investigations.

After a lengthy court battle, Boston College was compelled to hand over 11 interviews with former members of the Irish Republican Army, leading to the recent arrest of Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, in connection with the notorious 1972 killing of Jean McConville.

After being released without charges earlier this month, Adams said interviews from the oral history project formed the basis for his arrest. Adams has denied any involvement in the killing of McConville, a mother of 10 who the IRA believed was an informer.

McConville was abducted and secretly buried. Years later, the IRA admitted responsibility for her death.

Information from the interviews also led to the arrest of Ivor Bell, a former IRA member who was charged in the slaying of McConville.

The arrests have led to criticism that Northern Irish authorities are exploiting the archives to cause political damage to Adams and Sinn Fein, the former political arm of the Irish Republican Army. Adams has criticized researchers for focusing on former IRA members who became critics of Adams and the peace process.

After Adams’s arrest, Boston College said it would return interviews to any participants who requested them and would not keep copies. Several people had already made requests.

Ed Moloney, an Irish journalist who led the project, blasted the British authorities’ latest bid to obtain the archives.

“I call upon the US government to resist this fishing expedition by the PSNI and to remember that the major consequence of this bid to invade an American college’s private archive will be to undermine a peace deal that was in no small way the product of careful American diplomacy and peace building,” he wrote on his blog.

“I also call upon Boston College to vigorously resist this action and to rally the rest of American academe in the cause of research confidentiality,” he wrote.

NBC News has also requested that previously subpoenaed materials be unsealed, writing that “any case involving incidents of terrorism and criminality . . . is a matter of great public interest.”

Sarah Wunsch — staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, which backed two project researchers in their effort to protect the interviews — called on American authorities to reject the police request.

“I think it’s time for the US government to call a halt to this, which is not only damaging to oral history and academic freedom, but also immensely damaging to peace in Northern Ireland,” she said.

picture share Hundreds of cannabis plants have been discovered by gardai in Co Kerry.

The 250 plants with a street value of €200,000,were found during the search of two adjoining houses in Caherciveen at about 6.30pm yesterday.

No arrests have been made.

upload photos


TWO Eastern European criminals are now suspected of being the killers who murdered the Dublin pals who were 'whacked’ after they travelled to Co Cavan to retrieve a dugs debt.

The suspected hitmen, who have fled their homes, first came to garda attention after detectives became aware that dogs belonging to them were unattended.

It has now emerged that 13 people - including at least four children and four women - have fled Ireland since Eoin O’Connor (32) and Anthony Keegan (33) were murdered on April 22.

Sources say that most of the missing people have fled in fear of gangsters connected to the murdered men rather than the gardai.

The Eastern European men are now believed to be hiding out abroad.

A senior source explained: “This investigation is getting more and more complex as time goes on, but what is now very apparent is that everyone involved in it was there over various drugs debts.

“Gardai need to speak to a number of individuals, including these men.

“There is a major feeling of fear and uncertainty in the community now.”

Yesterday, the

While the investigation had been focused on the fact that they were in Co Cavan to collect a drugs debt owed to their own gang, gardai now believe that this was a ruse to have the two pals murdered by the arch-criminal who led their mob.

Gardai believe that a male foreign national criminal was enticed to bring the bodies of the murdered men in a boat to the small island on Lough Shelin, Co Cavan where their badly decomposed remains were discovered after a local fisherman noticed a foul smell.

Officers are working on the theory that this dangerous thug, who is involved in drug dealing and pipe bomb making, had a €30,000 debt he owed to the Dublin crimelord “wiped clean” for taking part in the disposal of the bodies of O’Connor and Keegan. In turn, it is believed that the Eastern European criminals who shot the two men also had their debt with the crimelord cleared.

debt

A source explained that the two friends believed they were going to collect a debt for their boss in Co Cavan.

“It had already been decided that they would be murdered before they ever got to Cavan - the leader of their gang decided they had to be made an example of despite how close he was to them,” a source said.

“The leader of their gang decided that they were disposable and that their murders would placate other criminals in Dublin. The two lads were sacrificial lambs.”

Up the IRA!

a DUBLIN gangster is being quizzed by gardai about a hit and run death of a young mum in the city over the weekend.

The notorious Drimnagh criminal, who previously survived an assassination attempt, was being questioned by gardai last night in relation to the incident where a woman was killed while crossing the road.

Caroline Watkins (40), from Lally Road, Ballyfermot, was crossing near the Golden Bridge Luas stop in Davitt Road, Inchicore, when she was hit by the vehicle.

The car failed to stop, ploughed into her and drove away from the scene.

It is believed that the well-known criminal may have been fleeing from rival criminals when he hit Ms Watkins.

The incident happened at around 10.30pm on Friday and it is understood she hit the windscreen of the car.

Ms Watkins was taken to St James’s Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

Locals in Ballyfermot paid tribute to Ms Watkins, a mother-of-one, who worked in vending machine maintenance.

“She was very nice, but also a very private person,” one woman told

DISTRAUGHT

A family member at her home yesterday said that they were too distraught to talk about what had happened. “We’re not ready,” she said.

Garda forensic collision investigators examined the scene before re-opening the road.

A man, aged in his 30s, was arrested in connection with the incident on Saturday evening in the Drimnagh area.

He was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act at Sundrive Road garda station.

However, the car that was involved in the incident has not been recovered.

Gardai have appealed for the public’s help to track down the vehicle which is described as dark coloured, possibly a Ford Focus with an 08 or 09 registration.

Following the incident, the car left in the direction of Naas Road. Gardai believe the smash would have caused considerable damage to the vehicle.

“This car would have damage to the front and to the windscreen,” a garda statement said.

free image hosting


THE family of a man killed by a vicious thug who has been jailed again for an armed robbery said he should never have got out of jail.

Last week Joseph McCarthy was sentenced to two years in prison for threatening two restaurant workers with a knife after he refused to pay for his food.

Gardaí had to use pepper spray to subdue the violent thug after his terrifying attack in Limerick city.

McCarthy had been jailed in 2005 for the manslaughter of a Galway man Colman Barrett.

The victim’s father, also called Colman Barrett, said that he was not surprised to hear that McCarthy had been at the centre of another violent incident.

“As far as I’m concerned he should be in jail for life. He should not have been allowed out to the same to another family,” he told the Sunday World.

“We’re not the same since that. I’d like to see him out away for a long time,” he added.

His daughter Ann Marie blasted the authorities for letting her brother’s killer plead to a manslaughter charge and avoid a life sentence.

“It’s a joke, I am very angry about it still,” she said.

“None of our family are happy about it. What’s he going to do now? Is he going to kill someone else?

“He should have still been in jail,” she told the Sunday World.

McCarthy, who has more than 50 previous convictions, served seven years for the manslaughter of Colman Barrett.

Barrett, a father of three, was left to bleed to death after being bludgeoned with beer bottles by McCarthy in a laneway beside St Patrick’s Cathedral in Galway.

http://www.herald.ie/news/killing-alan-r...r-30306221.html

Killing Alan Ryan – the lasting impact of the notorious gangster’s murder.

BY KEN FOY – 27 MAY 2014 12:00 AM

The murder of Real IRA boss Alan Ryan in September 2012, was perhaps the most significant gangland killing of the past decade, as the ramifications of the savage gun slaying are still being felt today.

At the time he was shot dead in broad daylight in a north Dublin suburban street, Ryan was the major player in dissident republicanism in the capital and was also embroiled in a number of bitter feuds with dangerous criminal gangs.

However, his various campaigns of extortion against the crime gangs meant that his life was in grave danger and he had been officially warned by gardai a number of times before he was finally gunned down around 3.30pm on September 3.

His fundraising’ activities and violent tactics, combined with his high-profile in the media, had been causing concern for some Real IRA bosses in the North who were worried that Ryan had become too powerful and a potential liability to the reputation of dissident republicanism.

But how did the situation come to this? In the years before his murder, Alan Ryan had become one of the most feared criminals in the country involved in extortion rackets that were worth hundreds of thousands of euro.

And he had been well known to the garda’s Special Detective Unit since he was just a teenager.

He was jailed for four years in 2001 for his role in a dissident republican training camp in Co Meath in October, 1999.

Ryan was also given a separate three-year prison sentence after being caught with a gun at his north Dublin home in September, 1998.

From Grange Abbey Drive, Donaghmede, north Dublin, Ryan, gained huge respect among other dissident republicans while serving these sentences in Ireland’s highest security prison in Portlaoise.

When he was released from jail, Ryan decided to go to war with the drugs gangs who were flooding the country with their product and making huge money.

He demanded large sums of cash off them and if they refused to pay up they became targets for his feared dissident gang who traded under the IRA name.

Ryan’s mob came to public attention in a major way in 2010, when they were involved in a bitter feud with a veteran Ballyfermot criminal who has made millions of euro from smuggling cigarettes into Ireland.

SMUGGLER

As part of this feud, the IRA crew are believed to have ordered the murder of Colm Collie’ Owens who was shot dead in Finglas in July, 2010 because he was closely linked to a man named The Smuggler’.

In a revenge attack the Ballyfermot crime gang enlisted criminal John Wilson to murder Ryan and some of his closest associates at the The Player’s Lounge pub in Fairview, which was owned by Ryan’s pal John Stokes, the father of Irish international and Celtic football star Anthony Stokes.

But instead of Ryan being murdered, three innocent men were shot by Wilson who was later shot dead himself in a separate dispute just a few weeks after Ryan was killed.

If this botched murder attempt was a warning that Ryan should step down from his extortion war with the crime gangs it was certainly a warning that he did not heed.

In fact Ryan, who was also a notorious womaniser and nicknamed The Model’ because of his good looks, stepped up his campaign of terror against criminals.

He was arrested for and is suspected of being behind the murder of drug-dealer Sean Winters, who was shot twice in the head outside an apartment in Portmarnock in September 2010.

A year later, some of Ryan’s closest associates are strongly believed to have been involved in the murder of major Dublin drugs trafficker Michael Micka’ Kelly.

It is widely suspected that both Winters and Kelly were shot dead because they refused to pay up extortion money.

No one has ever been convicted of the crime and Alan’s younger brother Vincent was cleared of firearms offences in relation to it after a trial last year.

By the stage that Micka’ Kelly was murdered in September 2011 gardai had finally got some kind of handle on Ryan.

Ryan appeared before Dublin District Court in May, 2011 where he and some of his closest associates were charged with threatening and making demands on a publican, ordering him to stop trading within 24 hours.

By the time that it came for these charges to be dealt with at Dublin Circuit Court, Ryan was dead and the case against the other co-accused later collapsed.

It was also in May 2011 that Ryan was involved in tense protests during Queen Elizabeth II’s historic visit to Dublin.

At the time he had been barred from certain areas of the north inner city by order of Dublin District Court but this did not stop him leading protests in the Christchurch area which later turned violent and he was even photographed while in a heated argument with gardai.

So while Ryan may have been a handsome pin-up boy for dissident republicans at this time, it was his activities in the capital’s dangerous criminal underworld that would ultimately lead to his death just 16 months later.

As Ryan’s powerbase grew his mob gradually became more embroiled in a bitter conflict with a gang of dangerous drug dealers who were led by the arch criminal nicknamed Mr Big’.

Throughout the winter of 2011 and the spring and summer of 2012, there were a number of dangerous spats between these two factions which intensified after one of Ryan’s mates was given a severe beating in a north Dublin nightclub which later led to Ryan’s mob stealing a huge amount of drugs cash from Mr Big’s organisation.

ASSASSINATION

The situation was compounded by a number of failed assassination attempts on Ryan and brutal assaults being carried out on associates of senior criminals by Ryan’s mob.

Tensions were also growing within dissident republicanism and Ryan’s brutal nature could 
be seen in the fact that he chopped the fingers off a notorious criminal in the capital’s Fairview Pak in May 2012.

By August 2012, the situation was at boiling point in north Dublin. Then a number of north Dublin’s most senior and feared criminals decided to club together and have Ryan murdered. His days were indeed numbered.

http://www.sundayworld.com/top-stories/crime-desk/dissident-gunman-disguised-as-postman

Dissident gunman disguised as postman was planning gang hit.

A DISSIDENT republican disguised himself as a postman as he prepared to carry out a shooting in Dublin.

Gardai foiled the murder plot when they swooped on the hitman and an accomplice shortly after 9am on Thursday.

Armed officers who had received intelligence about the planned hit quickly moved in on the men in a stolen van in the Glenshane Lawn in Tallaght.

One of the suspects was wearing a false beard and a wig. Gardai found a loaded handgun and eight bullets in the van.

Gardai believe the intended target of the attack may have been a man with connections to the INLA who was suspected of involvement in extortion rackets.

The two men are suspected of being part of the Dublin brigade of the New IRA previously led by gang boss Alan Ryan who was shot dead in 2012.

One of the men arrested is a man aged in his 35 from Walkinstown while the second is a 22-year-old from Tallaght.

The pair are being questioned at Tallaght Garda Station where they can be held for up to three days.

The arrest comes two weeks after gardai discovered a fully primed bomb linked to the dissident group in a car in Co. Louth.

http://www.herald.ie/news/dissidents-have-been-hit-by-infighting-and-garda-raids-30309326.html

Dissidents 
have been hit by infighting and garda raids.


BY KEN FOY – 28 MAY 2014 12:00 AM

MANY observers feared that Alan Ryan’s murder would lead to a ferocious backlash from the IRA but instead since September 2012, dissident republicanism has been wracked by infighting and weakened by major garda successes.

This did not seem a likely scenario on the afternoon of Saturday, September 8 when Dublin saw the biggest paramilitary show of strength in a generation at Ryan’s funeral.

The massive funeral in Donaghmede attracted huge controversy after a volley of shots was fired over Ryan’s coffin as it left his family home shortly after 9am on the day.

Ryan’s graveside oration was given by notorious Armagh dissident republican, Colin Duffy.

Duffy described Alan Ryan as “a brave Irish republican and fearless IRA volunteer” who was dedicated to “fighting foreign interference in our country”.

Gardai made no arrests on the day of the funeral because of fears that such an action would lead to a “full scale riot situation”.

However, a detailed investigation, led by the Special Detective Unit and known as Operation Ambience, into the events surrounding the funeral led to a number of men facing IRA membership charges after armed gardai carried out dozens of high-profile dawn raids.

These resulted in 17 arrests including that of four of Alan Ryan’s brothers Vincent, Anthony, Eoin and Dermot - who were all later released without charge.

As gardai increased their investigations into the IRA on the back of massive public and political outrage over the events of the funeral, cracks began to appear in the organisation with money disputes at the centre of bitter internal feuding.

When detectives raided the north inner city home of Ryan’s close pal Nathan Kinsella they made an extremely significant discovery.

Officers removed a cover from an extractor fan over a cooker in the kitchen of Kinsella’s home and found three pieces of paper which gave a clear idea of the level of extortion and violence that Ryan’s mob was involved in.

On the first page the author stated: “I understand that I went against army orders by not going to my OC,” while the second page made reference to financial transactions involving large sums of €120,000, €20,000 and €60,000 accompanied by various names.

There were also references to a Glock firearm and two shotguns, references to a person still having those weapons and a statement that the weapons had been given back.

This showed that Kinsella - who is now serving a two-year jail sentence at Ireland’s highest security prison in Portlaoise for IRA membership was heavily involved in extorting money from the drugs gangs that had murdered Ryan.

Kinsella was later accused of stealing money by his former IRA bosses who shot him in the leg in a punishment attack in Ballyfermot in November, 2012 - the first definitive sign that the dissidents were at war with each other.

Tensions had indeed appeared within the IRA before Ryan’s murder. This was obvious after an incident four months before Ryan was killed when he shot another dissident republican in the leg in an attack on the Malahide Road in north Dublin.

But then as the weeks turned into months after the murder, it became clear that the Real IRA was at war with itself and large sums of missing cash were at the centre of most of the feuding.

On January 19 of last year, Fat’ Deccy Smith - the thug who Ryan was visiting on the day he was shot dead - was summoned to an internal IRA meeting.

Smith was later found with a gunshot wound to his leg in a housing estate in Saggart - another punishment shooting organised and sanctioned by senior dissident republican figures.

While this bitter infighting was going on, the dissidents carried out a symbolic’ murder when they targeted former crime godfather Eamonn Kelly who was shot dead in front of a schoolgirl on the evening of December 4, 2012 as he walked his dog.

Kelly had previously survived an assassination attempt at his home in the summer of 2010 when Ryan’s mob tried to murder him after he refused to pay up to their extortion demands.

position

Kelly was a well-known criminal who had been the feature of many high-profile news reports and the IRA decided that an example had to be made of him three months after Ryan’s murder.

Shortly before Kelly was shot dead, many of the gangsters who had fled Ireland after the death of Alan Ryan returned home as it became clear that the IRA were not in a position to take them on.

Meanwhile, after Smith was shot in January, 2013 the Real IRA made it publicly clear that they were now involved in a “clean-up drive” in which many of Alan Ryan’s associates were to be expelled from the organistaion.

IRA bosses in the North ordered the “weeding out” of members who they deemed to be a risk to their plans in their ongoing war against the British security apparatus in the six counties.

At the time,

A high-level dissident source said that over 10 more figures in the Dublin area were to be removed as they were deemed too much of a “risk” to the organisation.

At this stage some of Ryan’s best mates were forced to flee their homes under threat from their former IRA associates and the increasingly powerful mobsters who were involved in Ryan’s murder.

In March of last year the internal feuding within the Real IRA had its first murder when well-known dissident Republican Peter Butterly was shot dead outside the Huntsman Inn at Gormanston, Co Meath, when he turned up at a meeting with some of his former associates.

Butterly had been involved in a long-standing internal feud with Alan Ryan and his mob and was even blamed by Ryan’s cronies for setting the terror chief up for murder after a number of bitter cash disputes.

As the feuding continued, gardai exerted huge pressure on the dissidents which heightened tension within the organisation.

DESECRATION

Such an action would have been unthinkable a year earlier and it showed that criminals were no longer afraid of the faction still loyal to Alan Ryan.

Officers had vowed to make sure that there was no repeat of the paramilitary scenes that marked Ryan’s funeral and the the desecration of the grave was the most significant event 
of the day which passed off without major incident.

In the months that followed criminals 
stepped up a campaign of harassment against the Ryan family and in April of this year were suspected of being involved an incident in 
which a car belonging to Alan’s brother Eoin - who has no involvement in crime - was completely destroyed outside the family’s Donaghmede home.

But it has not been all bad news for the Ryan family. Last October Alan’s younger brother Vincent (23) was cleared of serious 
firearms charges in relation to the date in September, 2011 in which drugs trafficker Michael Micka’ Kelly was shot dead by the IRA.


Vincent and his co-accused Darragh Evans (24) had spent 13 months locked up on remand in Portlaoise Prison before 
they were eventually cleared but came out of jail knowing that they were facing a death threat.

This is now a brutal reality for most of Alan Ryan’s former associates - a reality that would lead to the murder of one of Ryan’s closest associates Fat’ Deccy Smith who was gunned own outside a north Dublin creche in March.

kfoy@herald.ie

http://www.herald.ie/news/tensions-rising-as-ryan-killers-want-cash-from-rivals-30338514.html

Tensions rising as Ryan killers want cash from rivals.

BY KEN FOY – 09 JUNE 2014 12:00 AM

The Dublin crime gang that ordered the murder of Real IRA terror chief Alan Ryan is using the same extortion tactics that Ryan’s mob used on them before they shot him dead in 2012, it has emerged.

Senior sources have revealed that the dangerous mob are now demanding large cash sums from other dealers and threatening to shoot them if the money is not handed over.

The gangsters have also been involved in stealing drugs from other drug dealers, which is leading to a huge upsurge in gangland tensions in the 
capital.

refused

Sources have revealed that the cash drive has led to at least three different shooting incidents in north Dublin and Co Meath, including one in which a man was lucky to escape with his life.

In the other two incidents, homes connected to dealers who refused to pay up were sprayed with bullets.

A senior source told The

“Cash demands are flying around and when fellas fail to pay up, they are being targeted. Sums of up to €20,000 are being demanded and it is making everything very tense.

“What is a bit unusual about all of this is that some of the dealers who are being targeted were traditionally aligned to the crew who murdered Ryan.”

The

Fathead’ has been supplying this dealer with large amounts of prescription drugs and the criminal, who is in his late 
20s, has been making huge profits.

But now the heat is on him because the gang is demanding money off him.

And sources say that his mate Fathead’ is powerless to act because he is in such fear of the mobsters.

The gang has been using the name of one of its most notorious members — on-the-run gang boss Paschal Kelly (48) — to send terror through the ranks of junior dealers.

This is despite the fact that Kelly and his former sidekick Mr Big’ are now apparently in a bitter cash dispute.

feuds

Last February, Kelly’s County Cavan home was seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau. He bought the bungalow in 2004 for €190,000 but it is now worth over €250,000.

Kelly, who is involved in a number of brutal feuds, has been described in court as having links to major gangsters.

Sources say that if the situation continues as it has been it will be only a matter of time before someone is “whacked”.

“It is all about the money with these fellas and they have turned on each other in a big way,” a senior source warned.

“This is a big problem and you could be looking at a bloodbath.”

http://www.thestar.ie/star/gardai-foil-eastern-european-gang-hit-in-dublin-48463/

Gardai foil eastern European gang hit in Dublin.

GARDAI believe they have foiled a hit by eastern European gangsters after they swooped on gun-toting suspects.

Three people, who are all from Lithuania, were arrested after drugs unit officers in plain clothes stopped a car in Adamstown in west Dublin yesterday afternoon and recovered two loaded pistols and silencers.

The stop-and-search operation was carried out by officers from Ronanstown Station on the Newcastle Road at The Grange, close to Adamstown, just after 3pm.

The trio were arrested and were being quizzed at Lucan and Ronanstown Garda stations last night, where they can be held for up to three days without charge.

Rival

Sources last night said officers were trying to establish what the men were planning, but suspect they were on their way to kill a rival eastern European criminal.

And insiders also said they suspected the planned hit may have been connected to the murder of Lithuanian gangster Gintaras Zelvys — who was shot dead just a few kilometres away.

Zelvys (43) was shot dead at the second-hand clothing centre in Rathcoole, west Dublin, at the start of May 2013.

He was the leader of the biggest Lithuanian gang in the country, which has more than 30 members.

Zelvys, a convicted rapist, was heavily involved in extortion and prostitution and it is known that he specialised in terrorising other Lithuanians.

http://www.herald.ie/news/dons-pal-was-in-heated-row-24-hrs-before-he-was-shot-30353954.html

Don’s pal was in heated row 24 hrs before he was shot.

BY KEN FOY – 14 JUNE 2014 12:00 AM

GUNNED-down gangland figure Brian O’Reilly was involved in heated row with members of a north inner city mob just 24 hours before the botched attempt on his life.

Hard man O’Reilly - who was best mates with slain mob boss Eamon The Don’ Dunne - had been involved in a large number of disagreements with different criminal groupings across the capital recently.

Sources say that O’Reilly (45) will survive being shot three times outside a gym, and near a children’s adventure centre, in Balbriggan, north Dublin yesterday morning.

The Ballymun native, who lives in Laytown, Co Meath, was last night said to be conscious and “sitting up in bed” at Beaumont Hospital.

gunman

Three shots from a handgun were fired at O’Reilly as he sat in his VW Passat car after he arrived at the Platinum gym shortly after 11am yesterday.

It is understood that he was hit twice in the chest and once in the hand in the shooting which was not caught on CCTV.

The gunman shot him twice through the passenger window and once while O’Reilly was on the ground after he escaped from the car.

Gardai are appealing for witnesses who may have seen the gunman escape in a white Nissan 200 SX or a white Toyota Supra.

Of the 45-year-old mobster’s many disagreements with rival gangs the most recent is with a crime gang based in the north inner city who have fallen out with O’Reilly over a cash dispute.

Sources say that he was involved in a heated row on Thursday morning with members of this mob - just 24 hours before the gunman tried to kill him.

Another theory being probed by gardai is a “simmering row” between associates of O’Reilly and a Coolock drugs gang.

The dispute is over allegations that cannabis herb - worth a six-figure sum - was stolen by the Coolock mob during a violent incident in Co Meath in April. A senior source pointed out: “There had been talk that associates of O’Reilly were looking for revenge for the drugs that had gone missing and maybe the Coolock gang decided to strike first.

“That would be their form, they have been involved in at least two serious shooting incidents in the past few weeks.”

Sources said that detectives are “satisfied” that the attempted murder was not carried out by the Real IRA who previously tried to kill O’Reilly in a pub in Bettystown, Co Meath, in August 2010.

“Dissident involvement seems very unlikely even though they tried to whack him before, the IRA are not that organised at the moment,” a source said.

Another theory being examined is whether he was targeted by criminals from his native Ballymun after gardai received reports that O’Reilly and his close friend Derek McLoughlin (49) had been “shoving their weight around the locality.”

gym

McLoughlin, who like O’Reilly carried the coffin of their friend Eamon Dunne, survived a gun attack outside a gym in Swords in May of last year.

In December 2010, O’Reilly claimed in the High Court that senior gardai were in collusion with crime journalists to get him killed.

He said that after Dunne was shot dead, he had become the focus of media speculation over who was taking control of Dunne’s crime organisation.

picture share


GARDAI in Cavan are confident that charges will be brought against people involved in the double murder of two Dublin men shot dead in April.

Eoin O’Connor (32) and Anthony Keegan (33), went missing in Cavan two months ago.

Their bodies were discovered on an island at Lough Sheelin, near the Cavan-Meath border last month.

Both men travelled from Dublin to Cavan on April 22 and were subsequently reported missing by their families.

It was feared their disappearance was linked to criminal elements in the Dublin-Meath-Cavan area, with links to drug trafficking. The men had travelled to the county to collect a drug debt on behalf of a criminal figure from Dublin.



Gardai arrested two foreign men in connection with the killing during the week, but they are not believed to have been the killers.

Gardai believe they have information regarding what happened before and after the killings.

They were released without charge, but a garda source in Cavan said yesterday that investigationn into the murders of the Dublin men are ongoing, and it is likely there “will be further arrests and charges as a result of the file that is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions”.

A man suspected of involvement in drugs and pipe-bomb manufacturing is suspected of carrying out the killings. Gardai are also probing whether his girlfriend was involved as two guns were used to kill the men.

The pair fled the country after the shootings.

It is believed that O’Connor and Keegan were set up by one of their own associates, who is a major criminal, and that man is now under threat from other criminal elements.

Gardai have received information that he told the chief suspect he would wipe clean a €30,000 debt if he killed the men.

The chief suspects fled to the U.K. after the killings and are then believed to have travelled to South Africa.

Gardai expect to make a number of arrests in connection with the case over the coming weeks.