http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/...ce-officers-car


Three men arrested over bomb under Northern Ireland police officers' car





Trio detained in connection with plot by New IRA to kill two PSNI officers – a married couple – with a bomb under their car at their home near Derry City airport.

Three men have been arrested in connection with a New IRA plot to kill two Northern Ireland police officers – a married couple – with a bomb placed under their family car.

The three, aged in their 20s or 30s, were detained on Thursday in Co Donegal by police in the Irish Republic.

The device was found outside the officer’s home in Eglinton, not far from Derry City airport, in the early hours of the morning.

It has since emerged that the officer and his wife are both serving members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

A security operation swung into place after the PSNI received reports of suspicious activity outside the house around 2.40am on Thursday.


A senior PSNI officer confirmed that army bomb disposal experts called into the Glenradel area of Eglinton had found an “under-vehicle improvised explosive device”.

Sources in the security services are pointing the finger at the dissident republican group the New IRA, which was criticised by a Northern Irish MP on Thursday as having no coherent political strategy.

A senior police officer confirmed that the PSNI believed republican dissidents were behind the murder attempt.








Republican dissidents join forces to form a new IRA







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Mark Durkan, the SDLP MP for Foyle constituency, said: “These people are capable of using a viable device, but they don’t actually have a viable political strategy, no coherent message and it is not what the community want.





“Let’s be very clear about the support and sympathy and solidarity that we are offering to the police officer concerned.”

PSNI Supt Mark McEwan said the bomb was a stark reminder of the severe threat against police officers in the region.


He said: “This device had the potential to harm not only the officer but anyone in that residential area and those involved have shown a blatant disregard for human life.


“This is yet another example of the cowardly elements in our society who show no regard for the safety of local residents and the police officers who serve their community.

“We are obviously very thankful that this attack was thwarted and that no one was injured here this morning.

“Clearly there are people out there in today’s society who are still intent on causing murder and mayhem.”

Derry remains one of the few strongholds of the anti-peace process New IRA, which has carried out a number of attacks on the security forces over the past few years. However, the majority of its attempts to kill or maim police officers and soldiers have been thwarted across Northern Ireland.

Sinn Féin also denounced those behind the booby-trap bomb plot. Derry councillor Paul Fleming said: “We are looking to the future and we will not be held back by those who want to drag us back to the past. It’s time these people caught up with the mood and wishes of the Irish people and abandon their activities.”

The chairman of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, Mark Lindsay, has appealed for help from the public to apprehend those responsible.

Lindsay said: “There is a network of people responsible for this act of madness. They obtained the components for the device. They made the device, targeted the officer and planted it under the officer’s car in a cold-blooded attempt to murder.

“They didn’t care who else they killed or injured. Their only objective is to drag us back to darkness and hopelessness and I want to appeal to the community to help the police track down the culprits of this cowardly attack.

“All civilised societies require policing and officers do that job selflessly. No political objective will be furthered by any attempt to murder the men and women who protect us from those who have nothing to offer society.”

http://www.herald.ie/news/taliban-kidnap...s-31377371.html

Taliban' kidnap fear as tensions increase after brutal assaults.

A BRUTAL gangland figure linked to a spate of depraved murders has been enlisted to kidnap a young man after he allegedly assaulted a well-known criminal.

Sources have said the notorious killer, who is part of the 'Taliban' mob, has been hunting for the young man after being offered a five-figure sum by a 33-year-old drug dealer who was beaten up twice following two altercations in a north Dublin estate last week.
The man subject to the kidnap threat, who is from north Dublin and has no links to crime, has gone into hiding following the initial row over a car.
"This started as a fist fight but has now escalated into a very serious situation," a source said.
"The drug dealer has brought his Taliban associate into the matter, and the main concern is that this will lead to murder.
"He's offering crazy money for someone to kidnap the fella who beat him so that he can be brought to him. This can only mean one thing, and everything is very tense now."
READ MORE: Notorious 'Taliban' brothers back in city after years on the run
The dealer is a career criminal who is currently serving a suspended jail term for a bizarre crime and has almost 50 previous convictions, including for gang-related crimes.
He is a long-time associate of the notorious Taliban brothers and formed an alliance with the murder mob after he began feuding with a close associate of slain gangster John 'BJ' Clarke, who was shot dead in 2009.
In May, the Herald revealed that the Taliban brothers had returned to Dublin after spending years on the run in Europe and Northern Ireland.
The brothers, aged 32 and 30, are wanted for questioning in relation to a spate of killings, including two double murders.
burned
These include the slayings of Ballybough men Joseph Redmond (25) and Anthony Burnett (31), who were shot before their bodies were burned in a car in a forest near Dundalk, Co Louth, in March 2012.
The murders of north inner city Dublin cousins Glen Murphy (19) and Mark Noonan (23), who were shot dead in Finglas in November 2010, are also strongly linked to the mobsters, and it is the older Taliban brother who is linked to this week's kidnap plot.

http://www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk/new...rship-1-6825444

Judge clears Londonderry dissident of IRA membership.

A Londonderry dissident republican was today (Tuesday) found not guilty of directing the terrorist activites of the IRA and being a member of the proscribed organisation.

Judge David McFarland said there was “no hard evidence’’ that Thomas Ashe Mellon was a member of the IRA or had a “directing role, at any level of it either as a member or outside its structures’’.

In his reserved judgement, the Belfast Recorder added: “The often quoted phrase that the proverbial dogs on the street may have reached certain conclusions in relation to matters is of no evidence. This court does not rely on canine intuition, but rather on hard evidence.”

Mellon (39), of Rathmore Road, Derry, had gone on trial last week where he denied being a member or professing to be a member of the IRA and directing its activities on dates between December 31, 2013 and June 7, 2014.

He and his co-accused William McDonnell (28), of Culdaff Gardens, Londonderry, had previously pleaded guilty to possessiing a “handwritten note in circumstances which gave rise to a reasonable suspicion that its possession was for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.”

During the trial, Belfast Crown Court heard that on June 5, 2014, McDonnell attempted to enter Maghaberry prison to visit a republican prisoner held in Roe House when he was searched by a member of the Prison Service.

The judge was told that the search revealed a small package wrapped in cling film on the left inside pocket of the jacket he was wearing.

McDonnell was allowed to leave the prison and the package was later forensically examined and found to contain 13 cigarette papers stuck together bearing hand written text in black ball pen signed ‘T’.


He later drove towards Londonderry and stopped at a restaurant on the Glenshane Pass where he was observed talking to Mellon.

A forensic scientist said he examined the document against other items seized from Mellon and compared the handwriting style.

He stated that in his opinion “the handwriting evidence strongly supports the proposition that the defendant is the writer of the seized noted.”

A second forensic scientist also examined the note and removed a sample from the cigarette papers and compared it with a DNA sample police had taken from Mellon.


He was of the opinion that there was a “predominant DNA profile matching that of the defendant recovered from the joins between the cigarette papers that made up the seized note.”

Judge McFarland said that the defendant, through his counsel, admitted that he was the creator of the paper and the author of the note and “by his guilty plea he has acknowledged that he possessed the note in circumstances which gave rise to a reasonable suspicion that his possession of the note was for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.”

During the trial, Mellon declined to give evidence and the prosecution urged the court to draw an adverse inference from his refusal testify on his own behalf.

Judge McFarland described the note as “something of a polemic or diatribe but includes a rallying call, attempts at morale boosting, and a few words of warning.”

The Belfast Recorder said the note also referred to an “informer in the area” and it was “very hard” to determine who the informer is.


“I interpret the world ‘Brussel’ as meaning informer following the pattern of cockney rhyming slang - brussel sprout = tout.”

The note also referred to prisoners as “POWs’’ and warned them not to engage in “loose talk” as information was being disclosed during prisoner visits.

There was also several comments in the handwritten document to “the 32s,” a reference to the 32 County Sovereignty Movement.

One remark stated: “Things are not good in gaol as you are degrading the 32s and no craft to go to 32s. He is a nite mare (sic). I have combatted this by saying that of course the 32s can get craft but what goes out has to be approved and appeal to the wider republican base.

“I will not allow any dual army operating along with the IRA.”

Another comment, said the judge, appeared to condone political murder. It said: “If things had of worked out right we would be cheering on the army after a couple of stiffs.”

The Belfast Recorder added: “I am satisfied having considered all the evidence as inferred from the content of the note and the context that the defendant has a leadership role in what has been described as the ‘32s’, namely the 32 County Sovereignty Movement.

“This organisation is not a proscribed organisation....which emerged out of disagreements within the mainstream republican movement in the mid-1990s and was largely set up by disaffected members of Sinn Féin and others who were not supportive of the engagement of Sinn Féin in its negotiations with the British and Irish governments and locally based political parties.

“To convict the defendant of membership of the IRA, in whatever its guises, Provisional or Real, the prosecution cannot simply rely on membership of what is a lawful organisation.

“It must either show that the 32 Count Sovereignty Movement is one and the same as the IRA, or should they be independent organisations, whatever his membership or role in the 32 County Sovereignty Movement he is also a member of the IRA.”

The judge said that the expressed dismay and instructions in the note at the “apparent co-operation” by prisoners with the criminal justice system could have come from either the IRA “as a form of exercising leadership” or equally it could have come the 32 CSM as its role would be to “garner and maintain support for the Real IRA within the community. This would include maintenance of morale outside the prison.’’

“There is no such evidence before me to suggest that the 32 CSM is one and same as the IRA,” said Judge McFarland.

“The content of the note and its context does raise suspicions about the exact position of the defendant, but falls short of the standard required in a criminal trial.

“There is no such evidence in this case to make me sure that the defendant is a member of the IRA, or that he has a directing role at any level. I therefore find him not guilty of counts three and four.”

McDonnell was released on continuing bail while Mellon was remanded back into custody. Both men will be sentenced at the end of this week for possession of the note.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/r...g-31335579.html

Jock Davison murder linked to Dublin drug gang
Dublin gang may have had Davison murdered by professional assassins as a 'favour' to their new partners in Belfast.

Gardai and the PSNI are investigating a possible link between the murder of the Belfast IRA boss, Gerard 'Jock' Davison and a major drugs smuggling gang in Dublin.

The same type of pistol used in the murder was previously used by Eastern European mafia in Dublin, according to garda sources. One of the attacks linked to the type of pistol - which cannot use standard Western 9mm ammunition - was described as one of the most 'professional' assassinations carried out in the Republic of Ireland.

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It was used in the murder of Stephen 'Dougie' Moran (42) in March last year. Moran was shot because he was acting as 'security' for former gang boss John Gilligan following his release from jail in October 2013.

Moran was driving an armoured BMW X5 car and had bullet-proof windows installed in his home at Earlsfort View in Lucan, south Dublin. His assassin had only a 'window' of a few seconds after Moran pulled up at his home on the evening of March 15 last year. Moran was killed instantly in the attack and no one has been charged.

Gardai believe Moran was shot by professional assassins hired by the major drugs gang, based in Marbella in Spain, which controls much of the illicit trade in cocaine, heroin and other drugs in Ireland. This gang, police on either side of the border now believe, is spreading its trade and influence across the border.

In recent years, the market for heroin and other opiate drugs has been expanding in Northern Ireland as has the number of local dealers.

Associates of these local dealers, who have now forged closer links with their counterparts in the Republic, were killed by Davison's IRA gang in the past.

The leader of the Spanish-based drugs cartel is known to have also had close associates murdered by the Provisional IRA in the past. One of the theories being investigated by the two police forces is that Davison (47) may have been murdered by professional assassins, possibly from Eastern Europe, by the Dublin mob as a 'favour' to their new partners in Belfast.

The Makarov pistol is widely used in former Soviet Bloc countries but is hardly used at all by criminals or terror groups here as it has a different calibre from Western-manufactured automatic pistols.

The use of the weapon was first detected here in March 2011 when one was used to shoot a Polish businessman as he was leaving his home in south Co Dublin. The man and his teenage son were seriously injured but recovered. It is understood a similar pistol - manufactured in their millions in Soviet countries between 1951 and 1991 - was used in the murder of Lithuanian gangster Gintaras Zelvys (43) in May 2013. Zelvys was engaged in a variety of crimes and was shot outside a second-hand clothes depot.

Source: Sunday Independent

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/n...s-31378936.html

Dissident republicans 'retain lethal capacity' says Villiers.

issident republicans in Northern Ireland retain lethal capacity and resilience, Secretary of State Theresa Villiers warned.

The threat from gunmen opposed to the peace process is going to remain for the foreseeable future despite intensive efforts by police and the security forces, the senior Cabinet member added.

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She is in discussions with Stormont's justice department about funding the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to combat the danger but claimed uncertainty from a budget crisis in Belfast could cause the force difficulties.

She said: "Our assessment is it is going to be a threat that is going to be present in Northern Ireland for more or less the foreseeable future."

Security forces are on high alert for attacks by republican paramilitaries. The head of MI5 Andrew Parker has claimed the majority of dissident republican attacks in Northern Ireland last year were unsuccessful.

However, in recent years they have killed policemen, soldiers and a prison warder.

Ms Villiers told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee of Westminster MPs: "They retain lethal capacity and resilience.

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"Many of their leadership have been arrested for suspected offences over the recent months but there is still a significant amount of targeting and planning and it remains the case that were it not for the highly effective action taken by the PSNI and its security partners, including An Garda Siochana, I am afraid we would see many more tragedies on the streets of Northern Ireland."

She said police and security forces stopped almost all attacks but a high state of vigilance was still needed.

Special funding was agreed to tackle dissidents in 2011. A four-year package worth almost £200 million to this year was provided by the last Government in 2011. A further £31 million in security funding was allocated in 2015-16.

The powersharing administration in Belfast has been paralysed by a dispute over welfare reform which threatens the budget for public services.

Ms Villiers added it was essential the pre-Christmas Stormont House Agreement between the British and Irish governments and five main Northern Ireland parties was i mplemented to avoid sudden reductions to the PSNI's budget.

"The PSNI are confident that they are able to tackle the threat, they are doing it very effectively but significant and dramatic further in-year cuts to their budget would pose difficulties."

http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/0719/715788-psni-lurgan/

Petrol bombs and bricks thrown at PSNI in Lurgan,

A senior police officer has condemned a bomb attack on police in Lurgan, Co Armagh, yesterday, describing it as a "a clear attempt to murder."

Remnants of an improvised explosive device, which exploded during the alert, have now been recovered along with another device which was not capable of detonating, following the incident in the Victoria street area.

Superintendent David Moore said: "The viable device that detonated during today's operation was significant and absolutely designed to kill.

PSNI talks to journalists about devices found
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Watch: PSNI talks to journalists about devices found
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PSNI talks to journalists about devices in Lurgan

The PSNI said that the alert began with a call to the Samaritans this morning, that claimed a device, which had been aimed at a police patrol during the early hours, had failed to explode.

A suspicious object was quickly located by responding officers and the area was evacuated. A search was carried out, during which the second device detonated.

The PSNI do not believe that a device was at any time 'fired' at a police patrol. Both devices appear to have been planted in the area.

Superintendent David Moore said that the phone call and the first device were designed to lure police into the area to be targeted by the second device.

He said: "It was a clear and unequivocal murder attempt on the policemen and women who serve the community in Lurgan.

Families were moved from their homes and the Belfast to Dublin railway line was closed during the incident.

http://www.herald.ie/news/hoax-calls-to-bomb-squad-are-already-up-on-last-year-31388021.html

Hoax calls to bomb squad are already up on last year.

MORE false alarms and hoax calls of bomb threats have been made to the Defence Forces so far this year than the whole of 2014.

A bomb scare caused chaos in the city last week, disrupting train lines between Tara Street and Pearse Street stations for more than two hours, only to be later declared a hoax after a controlled explosion was carried out by the bomb squad.
Figures released to the Herald show that of the 85 call-outs to the Army Bomb Disposal Team in 2015, 34 of them have been false alarms or hoax calls - six more than the whole of last year.
Just under a third of all call-outs have come in Dublin (28), five of which were viable Improvised Explosive Device (IED) call-outs.
Reports of IEDs in the capital have come from Tallaght, Coolock, Phibsboro, Ballymun and Newcastle in 2015.
The breakdown for 2015 so far across Ireland shows that of the 85 call-outs, 22 were viable IEDs, 23 were conventional munitions and a further six were chemical and pyrotechnics.
The rest were made up of false alarms and hoaxes.
A spokesman for the Defence Forces told the Herald that there is a strict protocol when it comes to call-outs.
Dangerous
"If someone suspects a dangerous device, they report it to gardai, who will then investigate the incident," they said.
"If the gardai decide they aren't able to deal with it themselves, they will contact Garda HQ who will then contact the HQ of the Defence Forces."
The Defence Forces have regional bomb disposal teams throughout the country but don't release details of their locations due to previous attempts to disrupt their routes to the location of a possible explosive device.
Call-outs for 2015 so far are averaging at two more every month compared with 2014, but are significantly lower than figures for 2013, where there were 21 call-outs each month.

http://www.herald.ie/news/courts/trial-f...h-31391212.html

Trial for man accused of witholding information about RIRA boss's death.

A 30-year-old man who has been charged with withholding information in relation to the the fatal shooting of Real IRA boss Alan Ryan near his home in north Dublin almost three years ago has been sent forward for trial.

Robert Carroll of Ard Cluain, Clonee, Co Meath, is expected to appear before Dublin Circuit Court later this year on the matter which he was first charged with in October, 2012.
He has been granted bail by Dublin District Court subject to certain conditions.
It is understood that Mr Carroll, who is originally from Donaghmede, had spent a number of years living in England after being charged.
In April of last year, an English court refused to extradite Mr Carroll back to Ireland to face charges of withholding evidence.
A warrant for his arrest was first issued when he failed to turn up for a court hearing at Dublin District Court in April, 2013, and he was later arrested in England and held in custody while awaiting extradition.
However, Westminster Magistrates Court told Carroll he would not be sent back to Ireland as the offence listed on the warrant, withholding information from the police in relation to Ryan's murder, was not one for which he could be extradited.
Senior District Judge Howard Riddle said: "It is clear to me all parties have reached a consensus the warrant issued was not for an extraditable offence.The offence in Ireland is not an offence in this jurisdiction and therefore not an extraditable offence, so I must discharge him, he is free to go."
Carroll had initially contested the extradition as he feared he would be murdered by IRA operatives on his return.
However, his defence lawyer later told the court Carroll had decided not to contest it, adding that he wanted to return to Ireland to "sort things out".
Carroll was arrested by gardai in October 2012 on suspicion of withholding information about the murder of Ryan on September 3, 2012.
He was charged, remanded in custody and then released on bail and was due to appear in Dublin District Court in April, 2013, but failed to turn up.
A European bench warrant was issued for his arrest and he was then arrested in Wales in November, 2013.

http://www.herald.ie/news/feared-inla-boss-beaten-in-cash-dispute-31397243.html

Feared INLA boss beaten in cash dispute.

A psychopathic 32-year-old criminal, who is the leader of a breakaway INLA splinter group, suffered a severe beating from a number of Traveller thugs who he was closely aligned to.

There are now fears the dangerous gangster, who was previously cleared of a murder charge, will embark on a revenge mission against his former Traveller business partners, who are based in Dundalk, Co Louth.
"A severe beating was dished out to the Republican when he had a major disagreement with the Travellers because of an extortion cash dispute.
"This is the not type of fella to take something like this lying down. He is classified as highly dangerous and it has been advised only armed gardai should approach him, so the Travellers will need to be ultra cautious unless they can sort this out," a source explained.
The dissident Republican, who is originally from Belfast, has been heavily involved in extortion activities over the past two years and his cash drive was boosted after he enlisted the help of a north inner city pipe-bomb maker, who was released from Portlaoise Prison earlier this year.
Also associated with the dangerous INLA killer's cash drive is a veteran dissident Republican from south Dublin, who was booted out of the new IRA organisation having served a lengthy jail sentence for a botched armed robbery.
The Herald previously revealed the criminal who is leading the cash drive has built up close links with organised Traveller gangs in Louth and Meath, and he has been operating along the border.
However, this working relationship is now in "serious doubt".
Breakaway
In March of last year, it emerged the leader of the breakaway extortion mob caused a major security alert in all 13 stations in the Louth garda division, after officers received "highly sensitive intelligence" that he planned to break into a station to steal garda uniforms.
The dangerous dissident was previously very friendly with Declan 'Fat Deccy' Smith - the Belfast man who died after he was shot in the face outside a north Dublin creche last year.
He also has links to fellow INLA extortionist Declan 'Whacker' Duffy. It is understood he cannot return to his native Belfast because of an active threat on his life.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/...o-mi5-1.2297475

Villiers refused to grant surveillance warrants to MI5
Most dissident attacks in North last year were foiled, according to head of security services.

MI5 has been refused surveillance warrants by Northern Ireland secretary Theresa Villiers, a watchdog has disclosed.
The Intelligence Services Commissioner said the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) took great care when considering requests from the counter-terrorism agency and paperwork was in good order.

But Sir Mark Waller expressed concern about the breadth of language used to define the subjects on two urgent warrants, one which included intrusive surveillance.

He said: “The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland shows a keen interest in the case for necessity and proportionality.
“She can and does refuse warrants.”
Intrusive surveillance can only take place in support of one of the functions of the intelligence services in relation to the activity specified in the warrant signed by the Secretary of State.
Dissident republicans opposed to the peace process in Northern Ireland pose a severe threat and have killed policemen, soldiers and a prison officer.
MI5 took on responsibility for national security intelligence work in Northern Ireland in 2007.
Most dissident attacks in Northern Ireland last year were foiled, according to the head of the organisation.
Andrew Parker, the director-general of the British Security Service, said of more than 20 such incidents, most were unsuccessful and that up to four times that amount had been prevented.
Late last year, secret MI5 recordings at a house in Newry, Co Down, led to the arrest of 12 men during a police sting operation.
Sir Mark said: “In Northern Ireland I was concerned with the breadth of language used to define the subjects on two urgent warrants, one of which included an intrusive surveillance authorisation.
“However after challenging the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) I was reassured that they were keeping a very close eye on the use of the warrants and that the Secretary of State expected to be notified of any use.
“I was satisfied that the urgency of the warrants was necessary and that the correct procedures had been applied but recommended that the renewal submission, which had to take place within two working days, should reflect the limitations being applied by NIO to the use of the warrant.”
The commissioner published his report for 2014 recently.
He said: “Generally NIO take a great deal of care looking at the submissions from MI5 and asking questions to clarify what is required by the Service before submitting to the Secretary of State.
“I have asked NIO to inform me of any cases where either NIO or the Secretary of State has had doubts.
“I am not looking to second guess the decisions but would like to see the consideration given to each case and discuss this.”
He assessed whether the surveillance was proportional.
“The case for proportionality was set out clearly in the paperwork I reviewed.
“The language of submissions should reflect any limitations applied to the use of the warrant.
“When authorising a warrant the Northern Ireland Secretary may put limitations on that warrant for example by setting a time for her to review it. I regard such limitations as good practice.
“The paperwork provided by NIO was in good order.
“I made a number of recommendations, mostly around the area of thematic property warrants which I will monitor.”
He has said property warrants should be as narrow as possible and that thematic warrants should not be requested for administrative convenience.
A spokeswoman for the NIO declined to comment.

http://www.herald.ie/news/bloody-mr-big-and-ira-feud-has-not-gone-away-31427716.html

Bloody 'Mr Big' and IRA feud has not gone away.

The feud between what is left of the crew linked to slain Real IRA figure Alan Ryan (left) and the drugs boss nicknamed 'Mr Big' remains very much alive and active.

Sources have revealed that in recent days gardai have been monitoring members of both factions, who were carrying out surveillance on each other's homes.
According to well-placed sources the situation is so serious that an IRA gang have a car ready to be used in an attack on the Coolock based gangster at a moment's notice.
Despite such ongoing activity, gardai foiled an attempt on the life one of Alan Ryan's brothers in April.
'Mr Big' was believed to have been on his way to carry out the hit when gardai attempted to stop him in a car.
He was in the vehicle with another criminal when the pair were spotted in the same area as Alan's younger brother Vincent Ryan (right).
Gardai recognised Mr Big and went to pull him over. However, he sped off and managed to get away.
Gardai suspect there was a weapon in the car and he may have been on the way to carry out a hit attempt on Ryan.
CHARGES
Vincent Ryan, who was cleared of charges relating to the murder of drugs boss Michael 'Micka' Kelly, has always refuted reports that he is on the run from the gang who murdered his older brother.
Just weeks before the 'Mr Big' incident, Vincent's brother Dermot, a member of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, was told associates of the drugs gang who ordered his brother's killing in 2012 had been tracking his movements.

http://www.herald.ie/news/underthreat-pa...o-31441701.html

Under-threat pals of slain IRA boss Alan Ryan in 'shoot to kill' photo
Pal of slain RIRA boss Alan Ryan and murder accused pose for 'gun' picture

A pal of slain Real IRA boss Alan Ryan posted the words "Shoot to kill" along with a photo of himself and another man posing with replica guns online.

The pair in the picture are Derek Nolan and Dean Evans, who are both under threat of death from the drugs mob who murdered their close friend Ryan almost three years ago.
Evans (25) uploaded the image on his Facebook page.
The pair look like they do not have a care in the world as they celebrate Evans' birthday by taking part in an airsoft gun session.
Menaces
Nolan (32), from Baldoyle, was rarely far from Ryan's side. That has made him an target for the "Mr Big" drugs mob who gunned down his pal in September 2012.
The heavily tattooed north Dubliner previously faced criminal charges.
He had been accused along with his friend John Stokes (56) - the father of Celtic footballer Anthony Stokes - of demanding with menaces that Shane Simpson close the Castle Inn pub in Summerhill, north Dublin, "within 24 hours" on March 13, 2011.
Both men pleaded not guilty to the charge, which was dropped at Dublin Circuit Court in April last year.
However, criminal charges against Raheny man Evans are still ongoing. He is due to face murder charges in the Special Criminal Court in 2017.
Evans and two other men are charged with the murder of Peter Butterly in the car park of a pub in Gormanston, Co Meath, on March 6, 2013.
Their 55-day-long trial collapsed at the Special Criminal Court last January after a failure in evidence disclosure.
At a bail hearing before the High Court in February, Mr Justice Michael Moriarty said "justice demands" that bail be granted to Evans despite objections by senior gardai.
Evans had been in custody in the high-security Portlaoise Prison since his arrest in March 2013.
Mr Justice Moriarty said the retrial had been fixed for the Special Criminal Court in January 2017.
He said evidence given by two senior gardai, including Supt Alf Martyn, was "quite chilling".
Not only that, the judge said, but their evidence amounted to a very strong case against Evans.
Mr Justice Moriarty said the proposed retrial meant that another two years in custody would be visited on the accused.
As a result, he would have served four years in custody before the case proceeds, he said.
That did not accord with the norms of constitutional justice.
Mr Justice Moriarty said their continued detention based on the evidence of gardai would amount to preventative detention when they still enjoyed a presumption of innocence.
Sureties of €20,000 for Evans and one of his co-accused were presented in court.
Curfew
Mr Justice Moriarty said both men undertook to abide by a curfew, to sign on daily at garda stations, to provide mobile phone numbers to gardai and to keep those devices switched on at all times.
If there was any breach of the terms, the judge said he would require the matter to come back before him.
Evans' brother, Darragh, was cleared, along with Ryan's younger brother Vincent Ryan, in October 2013 of possessing an assault rifle and a handgun by direction of the Special Criminal Court.
In March of last year, the Herald disclosed that Darragh Evans was threatened with a hand gun by "Mr Big" in a bizarre incident in the Dolphin's Barn area of the capital, but no charges have aris

seen that pic yesterday,

Shoot to kill , armed with air soft rifles lol

Don this is how the INLA do it, Just to say like real guns and men and women.

Paramilitary Display For Peggy O’Hara’s Funeral In Derry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2_28y8dQbo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96iLQ3hC1tg

http://www.herald.ie/news/ryan-pals-set-to-converge-on-city-for-anniversary-31464424.html

Ryan pals set to converge on city for anniversary.

Associates and pals of slain Real IRA figure Alan Ryan will attend a commemoration at Balgriffin Cemetery to mark the third anniversary of his murder on Saturday, September 5.

The event is being organised by the 32 County Sovereignty Movement and well known Republican Francis Mackey is due to deliver a graveside oration.
Sources said that gardai are aware of the event and a special policing plan will be put in place on the day involving members of the Special Detective Unit and local officers.
People attending the commemoration are due to meet at Donaghmede Church before marching to Ryan's grave at Balgriffin Cemetery.
Francis Mackey, who will give the main graveside speech, is the chairperson of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement.
Last September he also gave a graveside oration before Ryan's brothers Dermot and Vincent laid a wreath reading "RIP Alan".
Earlier that week blood-red graffiti, which read "Alan Ryan rot in hell", was daubed on the side of the Holy Trinity Church in Donaghmede leading to an increase in tensions in north Dublin.
Apart from Ryan's family, some of his best friends are expected to attend the event including under-threat men Derek Nolan and Dean Evans.
No one has ever been charged with the murder of Ryan, who was killed as part of a dispute between a dangerous drugs mob and the IRA.
Monitored
The feud between the factions is still ongoing but there has been no major incident attached to it for many months and the situation is continually monitored by gardai.
The Herald previously revealed that an IRA gang has a car ready to be used to kill the Coolock gangster who is suspected of organising the murder.
The IRA has been dealing with a number of bitter internal feuds, particularly in Northern Ireland, and multiple investigations by the Special Detective Unit - which has led to many of the main players in the organisation being arrested and charged before the courts on both sides of the border.
The garda investigation into Ryan's murder on September 3, 2012, is still active and it is understood that a file on the case is almost ready to be sent to the DPP.
At the latest adjourned inquest hearing into the case in June, a solicitor representing Ryan's family at Dublin Coroner's Court said it was "simply unacceptable" it has taken gardai so long to complete the file.

Walk like they have shit themselves

Like the people in the old bill van at side of the road.

http://www.herald.ie/news/suspect-in-bmx...s-31481164.html

Suspect in BMX shooting paying 'protection money' to dissidents.

The 42-year-old criminal was still being questioned in Kildare Garda Station last night about the fatal shooting of Jason Doogue in Athy, Co Kildare last Friday.
The Athy man was arrested at his home around an hour after Mr Doogue was shot dead.
A teenage male and a female, who are both well known to the suspected gunman, continued to be questioned at separate Kildare garda stations last night.
Crew
"This individual has been heavily involved in the local drugs trade for years," said a source. "During that time he has been paying off certain local dissidents who had links to the crew that Alan Ryan and Larry Keane were involved with.
"In fact, he has made no secret that he has been paying off these fellas for years - and he seems to think it gives him a level of protection to do what he wants.
"It is understood that the payments have continued even after the violent deaths of Ryan and Keane."
Alan Ryan (32) was shot dead as part of a bitter feud with a drugs gang in north Dublin on September 3, 2012. Close associate Larry Keane (56) was found seriously injured by a pedestrian in Athy shortly before midnight on the July 18, 2013. He subsequently died following an alleged assault.
It is not known whether Jason Doogue's suspected killer had any direct dealings with Ryan, but sources said that he knew Keane "very well".
Yesterday, the Herald revealed that the chief suspect targeted Mr Doogue after a confrontation between the two men which started as an argument over €100.
Sources revealed that the suspect's "ego was damaged" after the younger man beat him up when the 42-year-old slapped him in the face.
Mr Doogue was sitting on a wall with up to four friends when the assailant, wearing a balaclava, approached him on a BMX bike.
He opened fire at close range with a handgun and shot Doogue once, who then collapsed over the wall.
The gunman, in front of the horrified onlookers, then leant over the wall and fired off another two shots before fleeing.
Forensic
During a series of searches in the Athy area this week, gardai seized a number of items they think could be of significance to their inquiries. These were then taken away for forensic examination.
The items removed include a sink that gardai believe the chief suspect attempted to clean himself in following the murder.
Gardai also seized three bicycles for forensic analysis.
A 13-year-old boy was released from garda custody on Monday night after his arrest on Saturday.
He is not suspected of having any direct involvement in the brutal shooting.

http://www.herald.ie/news/gangster-under...y-31492497.html

Gangster under threat from Alan Ryan mob making gradual return to city.

A notorious criminal who was previously under severe threat from the mob which was led by slain Real IRA figure Alan Ryan has been spending more and more time in Dublin in recent weeks, the Herald has learned.

Paul 'Burger' Walsh (34) fled Ireland a number of years ago when he became a target for dissident Republicans who later shot dead his close associate Michael 'Micka' Kelly in September, 2011.
The RIRA crew were then later suspected of firebombing 'Burger' Walsh's north Dublin home two months later and spraying graffiti which threatened the well-known criminal.
This all meant that 'Burger' spent most of his time between Spain's Costa-Del-Crime and Liverpool, where it is understood he set up a gym earlier this year.
However it has now emerged that he has been making frequent trips to Dublin.
"It shows that he is not bothered about any threats that may be coming from the crew who palled around with Alan Ryan.
"The dissidents attached to Ryan are nothing like the force they were four years ago, and this means that Walsh has felt confident enough to come back more regularly.
"Back then he didn't even come back for the funeral of 'Micka' Kelly, who he was very close to, because of the level of threat against him.
Assets
"However in recent times Walsh has been spotted being driven around and in the company of another criminal from the Coolock area who fled Ireland in the aftermath of Alan Ryan's murder in September, 2012," a source explained.
'Burger' Walsh was targeted by the Criminal Assets Bureau in 2007 when the agency confiscated property and cash valued at almost €600,000 from him.
Walsh had begun to build a property portfolio in Dublin, Laois and Wexford when his drug-dealing activities came to the attention of CAB.
The bureau's investigation found that Walsh was a member of an organised crime gang in Dublin.
Gardai examined his financial statements and concluded that the nature of deposits and withdrawals to and from a bank account with an estimated €80,000, on deposit was consistent with involvement in crime.
Walsh had property in Baldoyle and Swords, and was in the process of buying two other houses in Co Laois, despite having no legitimate source of income.
Meanwhile, a large garda presence is expected in north Dublin on Saturday afternoon when an Alan Ryan commemoration will take place at 2pm to mark the third anniversary of his death.
Pals of Ryan are due to march from Donaghmede Church to Balgriffin Cemetery where an oration will be given by Francie Mackey, the 32 County Sovereignty Movement Chairman.

http://www.sundayworld.com/news/pals-tribute-to-rira-leader-alan-ryan

Pals’ tribute to RIRA leader Alan Ryan.

SUPPORTERS of murdered Real IRA figure Alan Ryan held a republican march amid a heavy garda presence in Dublin yesterday to mark three years since his death.
Over 100 supporters and re­publican bands took part in the march from Donaghmede Church to Balgriffin cemetery, where Ryan is buried.

It is the third year in a row republi­cans have held the march.

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The march was led by a group dressed in military-style clothing.

Ryan’s brothers Anthony, Vinnie, Dermot and Eoin were among those attending the march. Other members of Ryan’s inner circle, including Dean Evans and Derek Nolan, were also in attendance.
Evans is currently out on bail awaiting trial for the murder of former Real IRA member Peter Butterly, who was shot dead in Meath in March 2013.

Derry man Tony O’Hara, brother of INLA hunger striker, Patsy O’Hara, gave a speech where he compared Ryan to Padraig Pearse, James Connolly and Bobby Sands.

Francie Mackey of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement (32CSM), the political wing of the Real IRA, de­scribed Alan’s killer as the “lowest form of human being”.

He also lashed out at the media, who he accused of lauding Ryan’s death, including “one home-grown journalist who seemed to have a particular hatred of Alan Ryan”. He went on to de­scribe Ryan as a “victim of his own exuberance” and a “brave son of Erin”.
The event passed off peacefully and there was a large garda presence.

Two years ago two suspect explosive devices were found near Ryan’s grave days after that year’s com­memoration. Thugs spray painted “rat scum” on his grave the same year.

One of Ryan’s pals, James McDonagh, who attended yesterday’s event, laid a wreath at the scene of Ryan’s murder at 3.10pm on Thursday – the exact time Ryan was shot three years ago.

This week the 32CSM released a statement saying Alan was shot in a “cowardly ambush by a hired gunman”.

The group added: “Those responsible for his murder are a part of a drugs culture which Alan had brought to the brink of destruction.”

However, the reality is that while feuds between Ryan’s gang and drugs gangs certainly caused problems, they did little to affect the drug market in Ireland, which was worth €600m at the time of his death in 2012.

Ryan’s brother Eoin, who has no in­volvement in dissident activity, said the day of the murder was “the worst most painful day of my life”.
Ryan was shot dead in Clongriffin, north Dublin, on September 3, 2012. No-one has been charged with his death, but it is believed a number of criminal fig­ures, including the northside drug dealer ‘Mr Big’, hired a hitman to kill Ryan.

It is believed the killer travelled to the U.K. after carrying out the assassination.

Tensions remain high between mem­bers of Mr Big’s gang and associates of Ryan.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/garda%C3%AD-were-not-interviewed-on-real-ira-man-s-death-1.2346083

Gardaí were not interviewed on Real IRA man’s death
Over 20 officers present at fatal shooting of Rónán Mac Lochlainn were never questioned

More than 20 gardaí who were present in Co Wicklow when a Real IRA man was shot dead by an armed detective in 1998 were never interviewed about the incident, it has emerged.
Head of the commission of investigation into the fatal shooting of Rónán Mac Lochlainn, senior counsel Mary Rose Gearty, told a Garda witness during public hearings that none of the 21 members of the National Surveillance Unit (NSU) present on the day were interviewed until her staff contacted them in recent months, some 17-years later.
Ms Gearty is investigating the shooting of Mac Lochlainn (28), from Ballymun, north Dublin, during a botched armed robbery on a Securicor van at Cullenmore Bends near Ashford, Co Wicklow, on May 1st, 1998.
A colour party forms a guard of honour as the coffin bearing the remains of dissident IRA man Ronan MacLochlainn leaves Massey Brothers Funeral Home in Finglas Village. Photograph: Matt KavanaghReal IRA members seen meeting leaders before botched raid
The Commission of Investigation into the fatal shooting of Ronan MacLochlainn heard the dead man’s partner, Gráinne Nic Gibb, was still to receive confirmation that all of the relevant evidence had been disclosed by the State. Photograph: David SleatorGardaí would have acted sooner if aware of Real IRA raid plan
Gráinne Nic Gibb, partner of Ronan Mac Lochlainn, at his funeral in 1998. Photograph: David SleatorInquiry into death of Real IRA member to examine Garda policies
The dead man and other members of the gang were followed from Dublin to Wicklow by the NSU.
When the gang attempted to rob the van on the main Dublin to Wexford road, armed gardaí moved in to arrest them.
Mac Lochlainn died of a single bullet wound to the chest. He was armed at the time and was trying to hijack a car driven by an elderly couple.
His inquest has already been told that 12 shots were fired by gardaí.
The gang members were armed but did not discharge any shots.
Foiled operations
Former assistant commissioner Dermot Jennings, who was a chief superintendent at the time of the fatal shooting, said gardaí had foiled a number of Real IRA operations in 1998.
These included intercepting bombs being taken over the border into the North and an attempt to bring a bomb on board a car ferry to England from Dún Laoghaire
He said if the force had any information Mac Lochlainn and the other gang members were about to carry out an armed robbery, they would have stepped in and prevented the crime.
“He should not have died,” Mr Jennings told senior counsel Hugh Hartnett, acting for the Mac Lochlainn’s partner Gráinne Nic Gib.
“But you have to remember he was on an active service unit of the Real IRA. The gardaí didn’t want to be in Ashford that day.”
During a robust exchange, Mr Hartnett accused Mr Jennings of making speeches, which he denied.
Ms Nic Gib is seeking to establish how the Garda operation was planned on the day and why gardaí did not intervene until the robbery was underway.
The commission heard the 21 members of the NSU were supported by 16 members of the Emergency Response Unit and the Garda fixed-wing aircraft.
However, Mr Jennings insisted the operation targeting the gang was for surveillance purposes only.
He said that the Real IRA had splintered from the Provisional IRA the previous year and An Garda Síochána was quickly trying to establish who was defecting to the dissident group.
Splinter group
The Provisional IRA was in “disarray” over the splinter group establishing itself in order to try to “wreck” the peace process it was committing to, he said.
With little or no information coming from technological or human sources, the NSU placed persons of interest under physical surveillance.
By tracking one such man - convicted Provisional IRA member Paschal Burke, who defected to the Real IRA - gardaí gleaned a lot of information about the new organisation.
He said Mac Lochlainn was spotted with Burke using a van at a car park beside Heuston train station in Dublin on April 24th, 1998, one week before he was shot dead.
Mac Lochlainn was seen transferring a sports bag from a van to a car after putting gloves on.
Senior counsel Michael Durack, for current and past members of An Garda Síochána, said the Real IRA gang was armed with a pump-action shotgun that had 18 cartridges, a Smith and Wesson revolver with six live rounds, an AK assault rifle with 28 live rounds and a replica rocket launcher.
The gang members also had a metal bar, lump hammer, concrete saw, chisel, a quantity of petrol and a modified fire extinguisher capable of throwing petrol about 20 feet.
He said that the main road to Wexford where gardaí moved in on the attempted robbery would have been very busy with bank holiday commuters at the time.
He said that, against that backdrop, with so many people in the area and so many weapons produced, gardaí had no option but to intervene “and try to be as careful as possible”.
The public hearings, which started on Tuesday, resume tomorrow.

http://www.sundayworld.com/news/crimedes...of-foreign-mobs

Ireland's Costa Mafia's blood bond is the envy of foreign mobs.

Theirs is a bond of blood envied by the Russian, British, Eastern European, Moroccan and Colombian crime syndicates on the Costa del Sol.
The Irish mafia are more than a drug-dealing outfit brought together by a common goal, they are also a band of brothers forged in LOVE and held together by fear and HATE.

It is the closeness of key families from Dublin, all now linked to the Kinahan drug cartel, which has been hailed as one of their strengths as a mob. Compared to other outfits operating on the Costa, the Irish can trace back their associations to childhood and many are either directly related or have relatives who have married one another.

In a perverse reflection of the old Italian Cosa Nostra, they can trace their cohorts back to the very houses on the streets they themselves were reared. The roots run deep, but the closeness of individuals working together in the ruthless world of gangland can also cause a serious problem if the mob have any housekeeping to do.

Today we describe how the mob teetered on the brink of a war when two brothers, Gerard ‘Hatchet’ and Paul Kavanagh, were brutally murdered amid accusations that they had pocketed Kinahan funds. Ultimately, though, the allegiance of many mobsters was to their wider crime family.

Many of the most senior lieutenants in the Kinahan mob are closely related to one another and an army of foot soldiers coming through the ranks are often younger relatives of key associates.

It is truly a family affair from the very top to the bottom of the mob, but in the murky underworld of organised crime there is one thing that is thicker than blood –money. And in gangland it can buy anything from loyalty to a family’s love.

From the early days of the emergence of organised crime in Ireland, large families of brothers came to the fore. By its very nature, Catholic society and working-class areas spawn the largest of broods and so it is often the case that Italian and Irish crime syndicates have grown from individual units, where brothers follow one another into different roles in a gang.

The Genna crime family, the Sicilian mafia of Chicago, was headed up by six brothers. In New York the Gambino and Genovese outfits were all made up of siblings and cousins drawn together by blood.

In the U.K. the Adams family – or the ‘A Team’ as they were known – are made up of Terry, Sean and Patrick. Of Irish heritage, they have terrorised Islington racking up more than 20 murders through drug trafficking and extortion.

In Ireland families like the Dunnes were the first in a long line of Dublin criminal gangs made up of siblings and they were followed by others like the Cahills and the Cunninghams.

When Christy Kinahan first looked to enter the big time, he choose his partner carefully. Jennifer Guinness kidnapper John Cunningham had criminal pedigree and similar ambitions.

The pair spent years developing contacts in Holland, Belgium, Spain and the U.K. before they really got their wholesale industry off the ground.

However, it would be their old contacts in Dublin and the new generations of their families who would really build an army for the Irish mafia – a band of brothers and cousins with ties of blood.

While Christy Snr was on the continent, his sons Daniel and Christopher Jnr had grown up in the Oliver Bond flats. There they grew up with Greg Lynch – a cousin of Tracey Brady, who had married heroin dealer 'Hatchet' Kavanagh and later moved to Benalmadena with him.

Lynch was also a childhood friend of ‘Fat’ Freddie Thompson, who would become the leader of a brutal drug gang that went to war with a rival faction run by his former pal Brian Rattigan.

Thompson is a cousin of the Byrnes of Raleigh Square. John Cunningham knew their father James ‘Jaws’ Byrne (below, right) from old. In turn both the Thompsons and the Byrnes are also related to another family who are key players in the mob, but who cannot be named as they are before the courts.



Fat Freddie’s wife Vicky Dempsey also has deep connections with the mob. Her brother Karl Dempsey served seven years after being caught with €200,000 worth of Kinahan drugs.

The Thompsons and Byrnes are also cousins of Liam Rowe – a mob associate who once went to court looking for an expensive watch back after a Garda raid on his home.

On the northside, the Kinahan brothers befriended Gary Hutch – a nephew of veteran criminal Gerry ‘the Monk’ Hutch – and Gary Finnegan, another childhood pal.

They brought them all into the fold and with them came other associates and younger players anxious to learn the ropes.

Meanwhile, Hatchet and Paul Kavanagh were also first cousins of Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh, who is married to Joanne Byrne – David and Liam’s sister. The couple fled Ireland after they had their home and “only asset” seized from them 10 years ago by the CAB. Since then they have been based in Birmingham, where they have all the trappings of multi-millionaires.

Others who have made the Costa their home have long associations with one another. On the Costa Blanca, where John Gilligan hoped to settle, his daughter Treacy married Liam Judge, the money man he had trusted with laundering his cash.

His falling out with John Cunningham two decades ago means that he will never be welcome or safe in Alicante.

Others not involved with the mob are sensibly advised to keep their heads down and don’t cause any trouble if they want to live out their days under the Spanish sun.

http://thestar.ie/gangland-exclusive-part-1-mob-target-pays-e100k-to-stop-hit/

GANGLAND EXCLUSIVE Part 1: MOB target pays €100k to stop hit
A CLOSE associate of a gangland murder victim has handed over €100,000 to the gunned-down man’s killers — to save his own life, it has emerged.

Sources have told The Irish Daily Star Online that the pal of gun victim and criminal Mickey Devoy stumped up the cash to the gang behind Devoy’s January 2014 death — because he fears he is about to be killed himself.

“He is terrified that he is next and has paid the cash over to save his own skin,” a source told The Irish Daily Star Online last night.

It’s understood the man — who had a close relationship with criminal Devoy, who was gunned down in south-west Dublin in January 2014 — feared he was being targeted by gangsters linked to convicted drug dealer Greg Lynch.

Screen Shot 2015-09-24 at 11.20.26
BLASTED TO DEATH: Murdered crime Mickey Devoy
Revenge

Associates of Lynch (30) blamed Devoy for a failed murder bid on him in central Dublin in October 2013 — in which he was shot in the face as he stood outside a pub.

The associates of Lynch — a convicted drug dealer from south inner city Dublin who is a target for gardai in the city — are believed to have gunned down Mickey Devoy (41) in revenge for that attack.

And now The Irish Daily Star Online has learned that they were also gunning for an ally of Devoy — but he hopes to have paid them off with the €100,000 in cash.

Devoy, a habitual criminal from the Balbutcher area of Ballymun, was gunned down on Saturday, January 18, 2014 — just a day after he had been released from the top-security Portlaoise Prison.

Victim Devoy, who had over 60 convictions, had been jailed on warrants a few weeks earlier after gardai became concerned for his safety.

But he took a legal challenge to the detention — and won, being released on the Friday night.

But the victory meant he only had around 24 hours to live.

His body was discovered off the Foxhill Road in Bohernabreena, Tallaght, at around 10.45pm on Saturday, January 18— after detectives from Tallaght Garda Station came upon the scene while on routine patrol.

Violent

The officers had initially stopped to investigate a car parked suspiciously on the road, but as they arrived alongside it, two men jumped into the vehicle and sped away.

The victim had been shot several times in the head and neck in a brutal slaying.

Devoy had spent most of his adult life in prison for a string of violent offences, including a four-year stretch for threatening to kill a man and gouge his eyes out.

He was also prime suspect for the 2005 murder of criminal Mark Byrne — who was shot dead moments after he left Mountjoy jail.

Devoy is believed to have shot Byrne because he accused Byrne of slashing his face during a fight when they were both locked up in the jail.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ten...e-34156057.html

Tensions high following attack on associate of slain RIRA boss Alan Ryan in which he was stabbed in face.

An associate of murdered crime boss Alan Ryan was stabbed in the face in an attack in Dublin's city centre.

The 25-year-old - understood to be a close associate of Ryan - was walking with a woman when the attack occurred in broad daylight in Dublin's city centre yesterday.

Gardai in Mountjoy are investigating the "serious stabbing incident" which occurred on Parnell Square North at approximately 4.10pm.
The man received serious injuries to his face - the 24-year-old woman who was walking him was not injured during the attack.
The victim made his way to Temple St Children's hospital and was transferred by ambulance shortly afterwards to the Mater hospital, where his injuries are described as non life threatening.
No arrests have been made at this stage, and the scene was preserved for a technical examination

“Republican groups up and down the country have lost total confidence in the New I.R.A because of their links to criminality and there [sic] utter cowardly failure to address to murder of republican Alan Ryan.
"The R.I.R.A in The North of Ireland and Dublin have regrouped and have amassed a stockpile of weapons that will be used against the crime gang that have been responsible for the murder of Alan Ryan and the Attacks on republicans.”
The garda investigation into Alan Ryan's murder is still active and it is understood that a file on the case is almost ready to be sent to the DPP.
At the latest adjourned inquest hearing into the case in June, a solicitor representing Ryan's family at Dublin Coroner's Court said it was "simply unacceptable" it has taken gardai so long to complete the file.
Ryan, who was a leading member of the Real IRA in Dublin and considered a significant crime figure, was gunned down in broad daylight.


A gunman approached him from behind as he walked along Grange Lodge Avenue in Clongriffin with two friends, opened fire and shot him multiple times. His paramilitary-style funeral was interpreted as a show of force by the Real IRA, sparking major controversy. The father-of-one’s death is understood to have been part of an ongoing gangland feud.
The inquest into Ryan’s death was opened in October 2012 and Gardaí have sought several adjournments since then to facilitate their investigation.

http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/dissident-republicans-vowed-murder-anti-6648724

Dissident republicans have vowed to murder anti-drugs activist who continues to expose criminality within the movement.

Dissident republicans have vowed to murder an anti-drugs activist as he continues to expose criminality within the movement, we can reveal.

Ciaran Kelly described how his life is being threatened by the gangs.

In the past six months different factions have approached him and told him he will be killed if he doesn’t end his activities.

The 41-year-old, who identifies himself as a “real republican”, told the Irish Mirror he will not stop outing the dealers and slated the threats as “empty”.

He said: “I’ve been threatened by people in the Real IRA who would have been close to Alan Ryan [murdered RIRA boss].

“They’re scumbags, the lot of them. They think I’m going to stop because they’re threatening to kill me. There’s not a chance in hell I’m going to stop.

“They’ve been going up to my family and saying I’m some sort of sex predator. It couldn’t be further from the truth.

“They are doing everything they can to blacken my name.

“I’m a real republican. I don’t believe there should be any criminality involved. It cheapens it.

Photopress BelfastAlan Ryan
“But the most important thing is that these guys don’t win.

“They can try and kill me, they can threaten me all they like.

“I just want them to know that they will never win and what they represent is nowhere near republicanism.”

Mr Kelly is the leader of the Anti-Drugs Movement which has been working to rid communities of dealers and pushers.

He claims gardai have told him there is a real danger to his life.

He added: “Anyone involved in any way whatsoever with these criminal gangs, we will target them.

“We are not an armed group, that would be illegal.

“We are not an IRA group.”

Mr Kelly, originally from Waterford, said: “This is not about all the youth lost in this war already. This is about the kids going to be lost if we don’t do something.

“We can no longer stand by and watch these criminal gangs operate with what seems like impunity.

“We cannot accept it. It is totally and utterly unacceptable.

“We have no choice ourselves but to stand and fight back.”

http://www.herald.ie/news/slain-rira-chi...k-34175018.html

Slain RIRA chief Alan Ryan's brother Vinny recovering after vicious knife attack.

This is well-known republican Vinny Ryan looking relaxed and care-free as he recovers from a savage knife attack.

Our photo shows Ryan wearing a hoodie, tracksuit bottoms and Crocs as he emerges from a house in north Dublin.

Vinny Ryan is now recovering and was spotted leaving the house after it was visited yesterday afternoon by detectives who are investigating the stabbing
It's just over a week since his lucky escape when he suffered a neck injury in a vicious attack in front of his pregnant girlfriend in Parnell Square.

He has received dozens of stitches to the injury sustained in what may have been an attempt to cut his throat.

Firearm

Alan Ryan
Alan Ryan
Vinny - the brother of slain Real IRA leader Alan Ryan - is now recovering and was spotted leaving the house after it was visited yesterday afternoon by detectives who are investigating the stabbing.

The 25-year-old barber was previously cleared of firearms charges which were linked to the gun murder of drugs trafficker Michael 'Micka' Kelly.

No arrests have been made in relation to the stab attack on Thursday last week, which is being investigated by detectives based at Mountjoy Garda Station.

Sources last night said that gardai believe it was a "targeted attempt" on Vinny Ryan's life and are working on the theory that it may have been carried out by a drug addict.

There were initially major concerns that the knife may have severed an artery because of the amount of blood that he lost but these fears proved unfounded.

Ryan was released from the Mater Hospital last Saturday.

Sources have discounted a theory that a member of another dissident Republican group was involved in the knife attack.

Gardai are investigating whether the stabbing was carried out by a desperate criminal who has links to the 'Mr Big' mob who gardai believe ordered Alan Ryan's murder three years ago.

It has also emerged that Vinny and his pals have rubbished a statement which was issued to the media last Friday by a group claiming to be the newly-reformed RIRA in Dublin.

Joke

The statement promised "to paint the streets red with the blood" of the crime gang that attacked Ryan. Vinny's close pal Derek Nolan took to social media where he described the RIRA statement as a "joke".

"To talk of attacks, revenge and rivers of blood is madness and ill-informed and an uneducated reaction from people with a gang mentality," Nolan posted.



Vinny Ryan has been warned by gardai on a number of occasions about an active threat against his life.

In October, 2013, Vinny and his close pal Darragh Evans (25) were cleared by the Special Criminal Court of charges of possession of an assault rifle and a handgun at Clonshaugh Walk, Coolock, on September 15, 2011.

That's the very same day in which notorious drugs trafficker Michael 'Micka' Kelly was shot dead.

Vinny spent almost a year in high security Portlaoise Prison before being cleared of the charges and has been working as a barber since his release.

http://www.herald.ie/news/drug-dealer-sh...e-34181195.html

Drug dealer shot three times in the chest while walking dog near home.

A criminal has been shot while walking his dog near his home in Dublin.

Drug dealer David 'Daithi' Douglas (54) was targeted last night in a drive-by shooting 100 yards from his home in Cabra on the city's northside.

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Gardai cordon off KIllala Road, Cabra.
Gardai cordon off KIllala Road, Cabra.
He was hit at least three times in the chest after a car pulled up beside him and a gunman opened fire.

Neighbours raised the alarm and he was rushed to the Mater Hospital where he was clinging to life last night.

Douglas, who received a five-year prison sentence after he was caught with more than €500,000 worth of cocaine in 2008, was walking his dog near his home at Killala Road when the attacker opened fire at 7.30pm.

Gardai are investigating whether the Christy Kinahan cartel, with whom Douglas had close links, are responsible for the attempted murder.

A friend of the Douglases said last night that the family did not want to comment.

"His daughter is too upset," she said.

Locals said Douglas grew up in the house he lives in on Killala Road.

"He got in with a bad crowd a few years ago and it all went downhill," said one woman.

"But he's a proud man and always says hello to people he meets on the street when he's out walking the dog. It's a kind of a pit bull or something."

Bullet casings from the gun were recovered by gardai on the footpath where Douglas was shot. His condition last night was described as "serious".

Robbery

On April 10, 2008, Douglas and three other men were stopped in a taxi as part of a surveillance operation in the Pearse Street area and a black holdall containing eight kilos of cocaine, worth €562,000, was recovered.

At Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in December 2011, Judge Tony Hunt sentenced Douglas to 10 years with five suspended.

He also had a previous conviction for shooting with intent to kill a garda during an armed robbery and received a 12-year sentence at the Special Criminal Court in March 1983.

"Everyone in this community is in shock after what has happened. This is completely out of context with the local area. People are stunned," said local Labour councillor Brendan Carr.



"People feel disappointed that these kind of attacks are taking place despite the efforts of the gardai. If someone is determined enough to commit these crimes it's hard to stop them. I would call on anyone who has any information to contact the gardai."

Former Lord Mayor Christy Burke said: "Gun violence just breeds violence. Nobody deserves to be shot like that. Any attempt on a human life is unacceptable.

"People are so used to gun crime that they may think nobody will be caught for this. Violence breeds misery and more misery."

http://www.sundayworld.com/news/crimedesk/dissident-thugs-linked-to-vile-nail-gun-crucifixion-attack

Dissident thugs linked to vile nail gun 'crucifixion' attack.

DISSIDENT IRA thugs have been linked to the brutal torture of a traveller trader whose feet were nailed to a floor.
The Rathkeale trader had been targeted in the ‘crucifixion’ attack after a dispute over a business deal, according to sources. It emerged this week that the man had been lured to a meeting at a house in Limerick where a gang of men grabbed him and forced him into a chair.

A nail gun was then used to staple his feet to the floor, before being left in agony to make his own escape.

Sources say a second man may also have been attacked, but did not report the incident to the Gardaí. One of those suspected to be linked to the attack is a dissident republican who himself has been the subject of punishment attacks.

Aidan ‘the Beast’ O’Driscoll suffered serious injuries after he was shot by fellow IRA dissidents in Cork in 2013. He was arrested by gardaí investigating the Limerick attack this week, but has since been released, according to Sunday World sources.

The 34-year-old, nicknamed ‘the Beast’ from his football playing days, was attacked near his home in the city. He was known to be a pal of murdered Real IRA chief Alan Ryan, who was shot dead in Dublin in September, 2012.

The IRA claimed at the time it was responsible for the attack on O’Driscoll, in a statement released through the 32-County Sovereignty Movement. They claimed O’Driscoll was punished for his “unrepublican conduct”.

The former underage GAA star did time in jail after previously being convicted of Real IRA membership, but the conviction was quashed after an appeal.

Sources claim that another dissident republican suspected to have been involved the nail gun torture session is Belfast native Gerard Mackin (pictured below), who was convicted in the Special Criminal Court of a murder in Belfast in 2008.



Three years later his conviction was overturned and a retrial in 2011 collapsed when a witness told a judge: “I have been threatened that if I give evidence I will be shot dead.”

Mackin is an associate of ‘Fat Deccy’ Smith who was gunned down in Dublin last year as he left a child to a crèche.

Two others believed to be linked to the attack have associations with Limerick’s deadly criminal factions, including both the Keane gang and the McCarthy-Dundon gang.

Details of the horrific attack emerged at a special sitting of Limerick District Court this week when gardaí applied for extra time to question two other men. The pair were arrested on suspicion of withholding information about the incident.

Detective Superintendent Jim Ryan described to the court how the victim was lured to a house on the south side of Limerick city after getting a call on his mobile phone.

After being invited into the house he was set upon by a number of people wearing white boiler suits as he entered the kitchen.

The 51-year-old man was physically attacked and forced into a chair. Gardaí believe a nail gun was then used to shoot a number of nails through his feet and into the floor. The victim was also hit in the face and suffered an eye injury, according to Garda Ryan’s evidence.

After the attackers had left the property, the victim managed to escape and was helped by a friend to University Hospital Limerick, where he was treated for his injuries.

Detective Superintendent Ryan said the two men in custody were believed to have information about the people behind the horrific assault and false imprisonment of the man. He said that both men have also given differing accounts of their movements on the day of the incident.

Forensics samples have been taken from the scene and are currently being analysed by officers. The court also heard that DNA profiling will also be “very relevant” to the inquiry.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy granted Gardaí a further 24 hours to question the two men.

http://www.derryjournal.com/news/disside...ility-1-7064851

Dissident republican Oglaigh na h’Eireann group claims responsibilit.

The republican group known as Oglaigh na h’Eireann have claimed responsibility for a number of recent mortar attacks and an ongoing security alert in the Drumsurn area of Limavady.

A statement submitted to the “Derry Journal” today (Friday), from the North Derry and Derry Brigade of Oglaigh na h’Eireann, claimed responsibility for recent events, before issuing a number of threats against those described as “criminal elements.”

The statement also claimed responsibility for a mortar attack and a gun attack in Currynierin and a mortar attack in Strabane.

The group also claimed that an improvised explosive device (IED), which had been left in the Drumsurn area of Limavady five weeks ago, has been ignored by the ‘RUC/PSNI until recently, despite previous warnings.

The group also expressed ‘grave concerns’ about ‘criminal elements within republican organisations’ using the name Oglaigh na h’Eireann to ‘extort money.’

“Having ordered individuals out of the city over recent months we remain the only organisation that does not encourage drug dealers by taking money in exchange for safety,” the statement said.

“Taxing drug dealers does not help our community. It turns a £100 drug dealer into a £10,000 dealer and this will not be tolerated,” continued the statement.

The group claimed that while its primary objective was taking action against the British occupation, it would continue to protect the local community from drug dealers and criminal elements no matter what these “false republicans” are getting paid for your safety.

Oglaigh na h’Eireann also warned those individuals using its name to extort money and commit robberies, to cease or they will be dealt with.

The group also warned that they will ‘deal with’ people who have rented property from republican families turning such into ‘drugs den’.

United Criminal Alliance has abandoned criminals in Sligo North Dublin Wicklow

UCA statement say the criminals were thrown out of the group for not following UCA orders to attack the Real IRA details in the story irish daily star today i can not get a link on Star ie right now.

Separately in the same Star story Republican Aaron Nealis Sligo who was shot in the leg in Dublin was attacked in his house.

Neslis was with Alan Ryan when he was killed.