http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/criminal-gangs-target-real-ira-over-kelly-killing-28950875.html

Criminal gangs target Real IRA over Kelly killing.

JIM CUSACK – 23 DECEMBER 2012

Four attempted murders in one week as rival crime bosses bury hatchet to fight dissidents

A GROUP calling itself "Criminal Action Force" was responsible for four attempted murders last weekend in retaliation for the murder earlier this month of the leading criminal figure, Eamon Kelly, by dissident republicans.

The attempted killings in north Dublin were reported to gardai and come as they step up investigations into the growing threat from the dissidents.

Last week it was revealed that a dissident gang had been plotting to murder a British soldier from Limerick on his return home on Christmas leave.

Gardai believe that the dissidents have attracted more members, including former members of the Provisional IRA in the past year.

Most have been attracted by the large amounts of money the Real IRA was making from its extortion racket run by Alan Ryan, who was shot dead last September.

But, as a consequence of the Kelly shooting, it appears Dublin's drugs gangs may be putting aside their differences to face down the republicans.

It is believed that gang leaders have adopted the name "Criminal Action Force" and gave orders for attacks to take place in a space of hours last Saturday evening and Sunday morning.

In one incident a door was smashed down with a sledge hammer.

Gardai believe that in two other incidents the intended victims were again not at home.

In another incident a man, who was at home with his daughter, answered the front door to a man with a plastic shopping bag over his hand covering what was suspected to be a handgun.

In all four incidents the people in the houses were innocent parties.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fail's justice spokesman Niall Collins hit out at Sinn Fein last week over their reaction to the arrest of nine men in Limerick over the paramilitary display at Alan Ryan's funeral in September.

Mr Collins said gardai uncovered the plot to murder the off-duty British soldier Limerick man serving with the Irish Guards Regiment as a result of the raids.

Speaking in the Dail last Tuesday, Mr Collins said: "I think it is pretty disgraceful that we have Sinn Fein sitting in the Dail and sitting in government in Northern Ireland at a time when some of their MLAs were protesting outside the PSNI headquarters because a member of the Sinn Fein party was in for interrogation, a Mr Padraig Wilson.

"They are conducting a two-faced strategy and I think we need to have a little bit of political honesty in relation to why some people in the Sinn Fein leadership and the Sinn Fein movement both in Limerick and around the country are affording a degree of respectability to these criminals. That's exactly what is going on and I get accused and the media get accused of political opportunism when I quote on the record what people have said publicly on the radio in Limerick and to the media.

"We have to have an honest debate about the role of our political parties in terms of supporting the Garda Siochana and it was anything but an over-reaction by the Garda Siochana in Limerick because it ultimately foiled the attempt on a man's life."

The raids in Limerick were part of the nationwide operation initiated by Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan in response to the large paramilitary display at Ryan's funeral in north Dublin.

After the Limerick raids, in which nine men were arrested, Chief Superintendent David Sheahan said that although no firearms or explosives were found gardai did recover a "significant amount of literature". It is believed this included computer records linking to the plot to murder the off-duty soldier.

Commenting at the time of the raids, Sinn Fein's Limerick city councillor Maurice Quinlivan said he knew a number of those arrested.

He told Live95 FM radio: "It seems to me to be an over- reaction from what I am hearing. If it is a case that people are being arrested for going to a funeral, that is pretty disgraceful."

Responding to Mr Collins' speech in the Dail, Justice and Defence Minister Alan Shatter said: "The House will appreciate that the gardai, in counteracting the threat posed by paramilitary groups, succeed time and again in preventing them from carrying out planned acts. Of their nature, the detail of a lot of these successes cannot appropriately be put in the public domain.

"However, what I can say is that the Garda Commissioner has advised me that there is an ongoing garda operation in Limerick aimed at the activities of a certain group and that it would not be helpful for me to make any public comment on it and, in particular, on a specific case."

Mr Shatter added: "These are simply criminal terrorists and I don't believe the words 'dissident' or 'republican' should be associated with them. These gangs are inextricably involved in organised crime – drug smuggling, fuel laundering, extortion, armed robbery – and there is nothing 'republican' whatsoever about organised crime."

cheers for all this information lads, keep up the good work ya.

Any idea who this "Mr.Big" fella is? Gets mentioned alot in these news stories and they seem to have information on him yet they dont use his name do they.

Could be these journos ham up there stories throwing in a big Boss for the juicy headline init.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0125/364487-wicklow-body/

VIDEO. Philip O'Toole found in Co Wicklow,

Philip O'Toole was shot in stomach in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow in 2011 by Criminal Action Force.

Criminal Action Force say they did not kill Philip O'Toole.

http://i.imgur.com/tliax9i.jpg

Any idea who this "Mr.Big" fella is? Gets mentioned alot in these news stories ?

He is to BIG to name on here, lol.

CAF Council, i would say has more power then Mr Big. I once seen 8 to 10 members with balaclava on them in irish star paper, mafia commission.

We might get a photo of the CAF Council on thread soon, i did ask mickthehack if he could get the photo to put up on this thread.

I do think the press are all over this MR BIG guy as you say for the juicy headline with out regard to the Criminal Action Force who as we know was about before anyone did hear of any MR BIG in the press.

journos ham up there stories ?

1. Irish journos always ham up there stories because they only act on information from official sources.

2. Irish journalists are worst in the world.

http://www.herald.ie/news/jury-need-time-in-attack-case-29085971.html

Jury need time in attack case.

21 FEBRUARY 2013 10:40 AM

THE jury in the trial of two men accused of assaulting another man with a meat cleaver failed to reach a verdict last night.

Alan Wilson (33) of New Street Gardens and David Crowley (36) of New Bride Street, have pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to trespass while committing assault causing harm at Dromheath Drive in Blanchardstown on June 3, 2009. Mr Crowley has also pleaded not guilty to a second charge of unlawfully possessing a firearm.

Judge Desmond Hogan told the jury to cease their deliberations until today.

http://www.thesun.ie/irishsol/homepage/news/4809743/Lovers-terror.html

THE grieving girlfriend of murdered Real IRA boss Alan Ryan is under threat from gangsters.
The Irish Sun can reveal Stacey Roche has been warned by gardai that her life is in danger.
Despite Ryan fathering a child with another woman, Roche, 24, from Crumlin in south Dublin, has remained loyal to the terrorist’s family.
The 32-year-old was whacked by a hitman in Clongriffin, last September. Since then, Roche has been doing shopping for his family and attending his grave every day.
We can also reveal Roche is one of FOUR women who have been identified by gardai as being under threat from gangsters in the Crumlin area.
And five of Ryan’s old gang also remain under threat from pals of murdered godfather Eamon Kelly, 65.
A source said: “Roche was never involved in crime — she’s being threatened because of her relationship with Ryan.
“She has been spending her days in north Dublin. Ryan had a string of lovers but Stacey seems to be in turmoil at his murder and this is the last thing she needs.”
Detectives have also established that a total of 26 men are now under threat from rival gangs in the Crumlin area. Cops have also vowed to increase patrols in the south inner city and enforce bail conditions on suspected gangsters.

http://www.herald.ie/news/ryan-murder-suspect-28016868.html

KEN FOY, CRIME CORRESPONDENT – 05 SEPTEMBER 2012 10:05 AM

A DUBLIN gangster has bragged that his crew "whacked" Real IRA terror boss Alan Ryan.


The senior city criminal has claimed responsibility for the daylight murder.

Gardai are working on the theory that up to four different north Dublin gangs clubbed together to murder the terror boss.

The middle-aged hood -- who has mentored the leader of one of the four gangs -- boasted to pals: "It was us that whacked him."

The big time criminal is blamed with introducing tiger kidnappings to Ireland.

The development comes as gardai swooped on a Clongriffin apartment block which may have been used by the killers.

Detectives are investigating reports that the hitman was hiding out in the apartment block in the days before Ryan was shot dead.


Criminal Action Force sometime later after this press report claimed responsibility for the attack.


CAF ? four different north Dublin gangs clubbed together to murder the terror boss.

Link from Irish OC - Thread (Updating Weekly)


A GANG boss exposed in last week's Sunday World wanted to be sent to jail because so many people want to whack him.

We revealed that 23-year-old Declan Tynan is the head of a ruthless mob of 35 criminals based in St Vincent Street in Dublin 8.

However because the thug was due in court for selling drugs to an undercover cop, we had to blur his face.

He has now pleaded guilty to the possession of heroin with the intent of sale and supply and asked the judge to send him to jail because his life is under threat. He is not due to be sentenced until May, but will spend the next few months behind bars.

Tynan and his crew have been involved in two bitter disputes with rival criminals.

There have been dozens of violent incidents linked to a row with Paul Geraghty, the new partner of Brian Rattigan's former partner Natasha McEnroe.

The gangs have been fighting with each other for several years due to a petty dispute that has escalated out of control. Geraghty narrowly avoided an assasination bid two years ago after shots were fired at his car on Charlemount Street. Detectives believe that associates of Tynan were involved.


Ambushed

Tynan's men have also been blamed for setting up criminal Declan O'Reilly to be murdered last September and pals of O'Reilly have sworn revenge.

Tynan's family home was recently targeted in a fake pipe bomb incident that gardai believe is directly linked to the murder of O'Reilly.
Tynan is said to be under extreme pressure and feels that he will be safer in jail. However, it is likely that he will have to go into protective custody.

His gang is one of six new outfits operating in Dublin 8. Around 200 young men are involved in the mobs, which have now taken over from the 'Fat' Freddie Thompson and Brian Rattigan gangs.
Tynan had been one of the main targets of an elite new anti-gangland unit operating out of Kevin Street Garda Station.

Evidence was heard this week of how Tynan was nabbed by gardai in an under-cover sting atthe Vincent Street flats in March 2011.

Gardai had intelligence that Tynan was selling drugs out of the flat and had a phone number used by the mob to do deals.

An undercover garda rang the number and said he had €500 and wanted to buy drugs.Tynan's pal Karl Fish answered the phone and said he would "sort out" the officer.

Gormless

The officers went to the flats complex and heard a whistle from an upstairs corridor. Tynan gave them a bag of heroin, but bizarrely forgot to take any money from them.

As the undercover cops left, he said: "Ring me any time, that's the best gear around".
Both he and Fish were later arrested and charged, and pleaded guilty this week.

Tynan's solicitor tried to paint him as a gormless idiot, saying he was "an amateur and something of a fool". However gardai say he is far from a fool and is not to be underestimated.

He has 21 previous convictions including one for robbing a headshop just yards from his own home. The court heard he was "near to death's door" six months ago after overdosing on cocaine. He agreed to undergo regular drugs tests in prison between now and May.

http://www.herald.ie/news/gun-used-to-kill-wilson-found-in-burnedout-car-28849170.html

CONOR FEEHAN – 02 OCTOBER 2012 10:05 AM

THE gun used to kill gangster John Wilson has been discovered in the burned-out car used by his assasins.


Gardai found the handgun while carrying out forensic examinations of the charred VW Passat.

Wilson was shot last Friday while bringing his children home from school.

Two men were involved in the shooting while a third man remained in the car.


Money

The gun is now being examined to see if any DNA or ballistic evidence can be obtained which could identify the killers or if the gun was used in any other attacks.

"Everyone in Ballyfermot is talking about the gun being found, so the hit wasn't that professional. It's a good result for gardai," said one source.

"Wilson was probably killed by his own gang and it looks like a row over money sealed his fate," they added.

One man is still being questioned in Ballyfermot about the murder. The period of his detention was extended by another three days.

John Wilson had survived three other attempts on his life, the latest one in April in which he received gunshot wounds to the leg.

His two brothers are behind bars for murder. Eric 'Lucky' Wilson (28) is jailed in Spain for the murder of a UK criminal in 2010.

And Keith Wilson (24) was jailed last November for the murder of Daniel Gaynor (25) in Finglas in August 2010.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for a group calling itself the Criminal Action Force has promised to take on the Real IRA as it seeks revenge for the killing of its Dublin commander Alan Ryan on September 3.

"If the Real IRA thinks we're going to sit back and let them take money from us they've another thing coming," he said.

"John Wilson was a member of our group and he wasn't afraid to stand up against Alan Ryan's gang," he added.



http://www.thestar.ie/star/murdered-gangster-wilsons-e20k-hit/

CAF spokesperson statement to Irish Star John Wilson.

CAF said: “John Wilson was aligned to a faction that had left CAF more than a year ago.

“We have had no activity with this former faction.

“There will be no retaliation taken by our membership.”

http://www.thestar.ie/star/slain-real-ira-boss-alan-ryans-son-born/


A WOMAN who was pregnant by murdered Real IRA boss Alan Ryan has given birth to a baby boy — and named him after the slain terror chief.

The Star can reveal that the 2lb baby boy was born nine weeks premature on Tuesday and has spent his first few days in an incubator.

Notorious ladies’ man Ryan (32), who was blasted to death in September, had only struck up a relationship with the woman earlier this year.

The woman, who lives in north Dublin, dumped the thug just weeks before his death after learning he was a RIRA boss.

Sources say the delighted new mum has now decided to name the baby after Ryan and hopes to become close to his family.

“The baby boy was born nine weeks premature on Tuesday and has spent a few days in an incubator but is expected to be fine and healthy,” a source said.

“The mother initially had no intention of naming the baby after his father. However, she feels that the little boy is the image of Ryan and has decided to call him Alan.

“It was a bit of a shock that the baby came so early but everything is fine and she is very happy.”

Following Ryan’s murder, his mother was shocked to get a letter from a woman telling her she was expecting his baby.

The family are now said to be delighted with the news — with Ryan’s sister Niamh putting a tribute up on Facebook.

Niamh, who’s Facebook profile picture is a photograph of her murdered brother, has posted a Guns n’ Roses song alongside the words “for Alan’s babies”.

A source said: “Ryan’s family were initially shocked to learn that he had gotten this other girl pregnant, but now they are excited by the news.

“His sister’s tribute to what she termed, ‘Alan’s babies’, shows that they want to accept this new baby and want to meet with the mother.”

Despite his hardman reputation, a controversial fundraiser in memory of Ryan in November displayed family photos of him in loving embraces with his daughter and ex-girlfriends.

The source added: “He might have had a fearsome reputation but Alan was different when it came to his daughter and the women in his life.”

I have some old Criminal Action Force storys from irish star paper i will put up aftar this weekend, there is not much more i can get on the internet about CAF.

You would have to pay for the other Criminal Action Force storys on the internet so they can keep them ones.

There is only a very small few Crime correspondent in Ireland who run Criminal Action Force storys five is all i ever seen.

So till next week, unless something else pops up before then.

Don, all your crime story posts have come up all over the place on this website ?

http://www.herald.ie/news/alert-over-city-vigil-for-slain-rira-boss-ryan-29104990.html

Niall O'Connor – 02 March 2013 10:40 AM

GARDAI will mount a significant presence in the city centre tomorrow as associates of murdered Real IRA boss Alan Ryan turn out to mourn his death.

Dissidents are organising a "black vigil" on O'Connell Bridge – exactly six months after the 32-year-old gangster was shot dead.

Detectives are planning to keep a close eye on the event – which is expected to attract associates of the terror boss.

The vigil will mark the first public event held by Ryan's associates since the controversial fundraiser in Crumlin's Submarine Bar in November.

outcry

And it is also being held amid major turmoil in the Real IRA – as Northern bosses continue in their efforts to "weed out" members who have fallen foul of the organisation.

The Herald revealed in January how four high-level men were sent to the capital from the North after bosses ordered an "intense clean-up" of how the organisation operates.

A source explained: "When there is an Alan Ryan event taking place, you just can't take anything for granted given the type of criminal he was."

Sources also pointed to the public and political outcry following the volley of shots fired above Ryan's coffin at his paramilitary funeral in Donaghmede on September 9.

Gardai were strongly criticised for failing to intervene when dissidents dressed in black berets and military clothing fired shots into the air in broad daylight.

TROUBLE

"There will be a close watch paid to this event on Sunday.

"Gardai are aware of it and will be prepared for any trouble," a source told the Herald.

Meanwhile, family members of Alan Ryan were this weekend paying tribute to their loved one on social networking sites.

The criminal's brother, Dermot Ryan – who was previously arrested by detectives investigating dissident activity – described Alan as "honest, courteous, courageous and disciplined".

"You never took a penny that was not yours to keep.

"You stood brave and tall, when your country and community called," Dermot Ryan wrote.

"They tried to break you in a living hell, you refused to be broken and would not be broken.

"You were murdered in cold blood by the criminals of the State with exactly €37 to your name and wallet.

extortion

"You were and are an inspiration to all true republicans out there and as a human being.

"You were as straight as they come, you would not be turned," he added.

Ryan was shot dead on September 3 while walking on Grange Lodge Avenue, Clongriffin, north Dublin.

He was in the company of an associate when he was shot just yards from his home.

The 32-year-old's Real IRA faction was involved in extortion and intimidation of drug dealers and racketeering against pub and club owners.

noconnor@herald.ie

http://www.thesun.ie/irishsol/homepage/news/4823331/Fears-Derek-Hutch-would-be-killed-in-jail.html

Hutch and go for Del Boy.

Settled ... Hutch wanted to stay in Mountjoy
Exclusive
By OWEN CONLON, NEIL COTTER AND STEPHEN BREEN
Published: 3 hrs ago
0
THE family of terrified Derek Hutch begged a TD to call the Irish Prison Service to try to get the killer moved to a safer jail.

TD Joe Costello was named by Hutch’s father Patrick as the man who was asked to make representations on behalf of vicious Del Boy after his transfer to Co Laois.

Hutch — who stabbed a man to death in 2007 — feared he would be targeted by Alan Ryan’s Real IRA mob after he was transferred from Mountjoy to Portlaoise in November 2009.

In a conversation taped by Spanish cops as part of their investigations into Christy Kinahan’s drugs empire, Derek’s father Patrick revealed he had approached the Labour politician who is TD for Dublin Central.

Patrick phoned his Spanish-based son Gary and said that he had approached Costello — the present Minister of State for Trade and Development — about getting Derek out of Portlaoise.

Patrick said Costello made enquiries and rang the Hutch family to say that prison officials had decided that Derek would be kept away from other prisoners in Portlaoise and in the segregation unit.

In an astonishing Spanish police transcript of taped conversations and text messages over three weeks, Gary — the nephew of veteran Dublin gang figure Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch — lifted the lid on his brother’s worries.

On November 17, Gary took a call from his father who said he was worried that Derek was about to be transferred from ‘The Joy’.

Gary was also told how Derek feared being attacked by the “ones from the Fairview Inn” — meaning the associates of RIRA boss Alan Ryan (who was murdered by rival gangsters last September) — if he was sent to the Co Laois slammer.

And he told his father he would sort the problem out but said he was worried his brother would be unable to use his SIM card because he was in the medical wing of Mountjoy where there would be no phone.

In a series of calls over a number of hours, a female pal of Derek’s then told Gary he had borrowed a phone and had been in touch.

The following day, Gary asked Freddie Thompson to ring an inmate in Mountjoy — who cannot be named — and tell him to give his phone to Derek for the night so the brothers could chat.

The following day, Derek’s female pal called to say Derek had been sent to Portlaoise.

His father then told Gary that Patrick had been in segregation on A-Wing.

The following day, the female pal called again to say Derek was complaining about prison. On November 22, Derek, Gary and the female pal had a three-way phone conversation. Fat Freddie then took Gary’s phone and said he might know a prison officer there and would see what he could do for Derek.

Gary told Derek to keep his head down in Portlaoise before Patrick told him he had been on to Costello about getting him a transfer.

The family were advising Derek to go on hunger strike and a dirty protest and accused the Gardai of orchestrating the transfer.

Patrick told Gary he had yet to hand over the Book of Evidence to an inmate, the evil child rapist Rossi Walsh, who had cultivated a reputation as an amateur lawyer. His family were convinced they knew the reason he had been taken out of Mountjoy in the first place.

According to Patrick, it was because Derek was in possession of a phone — contrary to prison rules — and also because a “top cop” in Dublin’s Store Street had heard Derek was planning a prison break.

Derek’s family were still trying to get him moved, but weren’t confident as they believed the same “c*** in Store Street” would ensure Derek “was stuck there”. Last July, Hutch was sentenced to 16 years in jail for co-ordinating a botched cash van raid. He was already serving a ten-year sentence — with four suspended — handed down in 2011 — for the manslaughter of Barry Maguire, 27.

He is also doing a ten-year stretch for handgun possession.

His raid conviction means his previous 2020 release date has been extended by five years. Hutch is now serving his sentence in Dublin’s Wheatfield prison. He is not due to be released until 2025.

We contracted Joe Costello TD several times for comment. He told the Irish Sun he would get back to us but he had not returned our calls last night.

http://www.thestar.ie/star/rira-well-revenge-slain-boss-alan-ryan/

RIRA: We’ll avenge slain boss Alan Ryan.

Dissident Republicans are set wage war on crime gangs in Dublin, it emerged last night.

Sources have told The Star that allies of slain Real IRA boss Alan Ryan — killed by criminals in Dublin six months ago — are now set to take out mobsters and drug dealers in the city in revenge for his death.

Ryan (32) was shot dead at the start of September near his home in Clongriffin, north Dublin — after a crime gang from the area refused to pay him thousands of euro that he was extorting from them.

The RIRA had vowed revenge — but only crime godfather Eamonn Kelly (65), who was on the periphery of the gang that killed Ryan, was shot dead in revenge.

But Republican sources have told The Star that now the RIRA is set to seek out mobsters it believes are part of the crime network behind Ryan’s death — and kill them.

“The criminals are making a mistake of they think we are not coming after them,” a Republican source told The Star.

“The time is now right for action. We will be taking action against the drug dealers and criminals.”

The development is the latest twist in a feud between criminals and Republicans in the capital that has left 10 people dead in the last three years.

The Star’s exclusive, 16-page investigation into the gangs of Ireland today includes a probe into the brutal war between the Real IRA and a coalition of gangsters calling themselves the Criminal Action Force (CAF).

That group was set up in 2010 to protect criminals from extortion demands by Ryan’s RIRA — who got more than €420,000 from them.

Gardai believe the secretive CAF is led by a criminal from the west of Dublin.

It boasts it has more than 200 members.

Meanwhile, more than 100 Republican sympathisers marched through the centre of Dublin last night in tribute to slain Alan Ryan.

The large group gathered on O’Connell Street at 6pm carrying banners with pictures of Ryan on them.

The marchers walked down Dublin’s main thoroughfare behind an Irish tri-colour and a number of plain black banners.

A source told The Star that the march passed off peacefully.

The RIRA had vowed revenge on Criminal gangs ? yeah right.

10 people dead in the last three years. ? yeah and criminal gangs have killed up to 7 people if not more.

The Star’s exclusive, 16-page investigation into the gangs of Ireland today includes a probe into the brutal war between the Real IRA and a coalition of gangsters calling themselves the Criminal Action Force (CAF). ?

Mickthehack can you put up your report in 16-page investigation on CAF.

http://www.herald.ie/news/black-vigil-held-in-city-centre-for-slain-rira-boss-29107385.html

JANE LAST AND NIALL O'CONNOR – 04 MARCH 2013 10:40 AM

SUPPORTERS of slain RIRA terror boss Alan Ryan took to the city centre last night to hold a special commemoration for him.

At least two dozen people carrying black flags, tricolours and pictures of Ryan (32), stood on O'Connell Bridge last night for a "black vigil".

The "vigil" took place on the six-month anniversary of Ryan's death. Gardai were also present at last night's event.

The vigil is the first public event held by supporters of Ryan since the controversial fundraiser in Crumlin's Submarine bar in November.

The "black vigil" was being held amid major turmoil in the Real IRA – as Northern bosses continue in their efforts to "weed out" members who have fallen foul of the organisation.

The Herald revealed in January that four high-level men were sent to the capital from the North after bosses ordered an "intense clean-up" of how the organisation operates.

A number of detectives were in close proximity to last night's vigil in the city centre.

A source explained: "When there is an Alan Ryan event taking place, you just can't take anything for granted given the type of criminal he was."

Sources also pointed to the public and political outcry following the volley of shots fired above Ryan's coffin at his paramilitary funeral in Donaghmede on September 9.

Gardai were strongly criticised for failing to intervene when dissidents dressed in black berets and military clothing fired shots into the air in broad daylight.

Meanwhile, family members of Alan Ryan were this weekend paying tribute to their loved one on social networking sites.

At least two dozen people ?

Said 100 people in the Irish Star. Hummmm.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/06/dissident-irish-republican-shot-dead

Dissident Irish republican shot dead outside pub.



A dissident republican has been shot dead at a pub on the east coast of Ireland.

In a follow up operation the Garda Siochana arrested four men in connection with the fatal shooting.

The dead man is understood to be Peter Butterly who was arrested back in 2010 after the Irish security forces found a large Real IRA arms dump in Co Louth.

Butterly was murdered while sitting in a car outside The Huntsman pub in the seaside resort of Laytown in Co Meath close to the M1 motorway linking Dublin to Belfast.

Security sources said the gang responsible for the shooting had been under surveillance and after shots were heard armed Garda officers moved into the scene and arrested four men. They are being held under the Republic's anti-terror laws, the Offences Against the State Act.

Although the remnants of the Real IRA in Dublin – now part of the anti-peace process coalition styling itself as the new IRA – has been involved in a violent feud with non-political armed criminals in the Irish capital, it is not thought Butterly's murder was linked to that turf war. Security sources indicated he may have been killed in an internal "clean out" of suspected informers within the republican terror group.

Butterly walked free from the Republic's special criminal court last year after the case against him and another man collapsed because the non jury court ruled he had been unlawfully arrested after the seizure of explosives in Co Louth.

No evidence was heard in the trial of Butterly, of Cortown, Togher, Dunleer, who had pleaded not guilty to membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Óglaigh na hÉireann, on 8 October 2010.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2013/0307/breaking1.html


CONOR LALLY, Crime Correspondent and ELAINE KEOGH in Gormanston

Gardai will question five men this morning held in connection with the fatal shooting of a member of the Real IRA in a pub car park in Co Meath yesterday.

Peter Butterly (35), a father of three from Cortown, Togher, Dunleer, Co Louth, was shot dead in the car park of the Huntsman Inn in Gormanston at about 2.30pm while under surveillance by armed gardai.

Traffic diversions are still in place in the vicinity of the pub this morning, and gardai are advising motorists to avoid the area.

A postmortem is due to take place today at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

Mr Butterly was due to stand trial next Wednesday on charges of membership of an illegal organisation, namely the Real IRA. He was free on bail.

He had gone to the car park for a meeting with others from the Real IRA, of which he was a regional commander.

However, the Real IRA has been feuding internally since the shooting dead of key figure Alan Ryan last September. Yesterday the group of men turned on Mr Butterly as part of that feud and shot him as he sat in his car in the pub car park. He staggered from the vehicle, then collapsed and died.

Members of the Emergency Response Unit were in the immediate vicinity, keeping Mr Butterly under surveillance because his life had been threatened, and also to gather information on whom he was meeting.

After he was shot, four suspects in their 20s fled in a car but were stopped by gardai at the Balscadden Road not far from the pub. A fifth man, in his 40s, was arrested nearby. A handgun was recovered.

Paramilitary funeral

The suspects are from Coolock and parts of north Co Dublin. They knew Alan Ryan and some were among a group arrested in relation to the show of paramilitary strength at his funeral in Donaghmede, north Dublin, last September.

Mr Butterly?s remains were yesterday examined at the scene by Deputy State Pathologist Dr Khalid Jabbar.

Mr Butterly had been before the Special Criminal Court last March charged with Real IRA membership arising from his suspected transportation of bomb components in 2010.

The warrant used to gather evidence against him was ruled unconstitutional and charges were not pursued. He was due to stand trial next Wednesday on a new charge of membership of an illegal organisation.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/l...k-29115052.html

By Tom Brady, Paul Williams and Barry Duggan – 07 March 2013

A dissident republican has been shot dead in an ambush at a pub car park following an internal split within the terrorist group.

Peter Butterly (35) was murdered yesterday outside the Huntsman Inn at Gormanston, Co Meath.

Gardai received an early break in the murder probe when Special Branch detectives, who were nearby, immediately responded. They arrested five men in the area and recovered a firearm.

Four of the arrested men, all in their 20s, were attempting to flee in a car from the murder scene while the fifth person, in his 40s, was arrested at the pub.

Gardai are investigating the theory that Butterly was ambushed at the car park of the popular pub when he was shot dead.

Officers are satisfied that the murder of Butterly, a married father-of-three, is linked to an internal feud between dissidents.

He was an associate of Real IRA boss and convicted criminal Alan Ryan, who was shot dead in north Dublin last year as part of the ongoing feud.

Butterly (35) had been one of four leaders of the Real IRA before the group became part of the New IRA alliance formed last summer.

Since then, Butterly, from Dunleer, Co Louth, was marginalised by the leadership of the alliance.

It is believed he had been accused by the alliance of holding on to cash raised through extortion and “fundraising” activities.

At least two bullets struck a parked Laguna vehicle during the gun attack.

Butterly collapsed from his injuries at the corner of the pub car park alongside a clothes bin.

A neighbour living alongside the pub said: “I was just getting out of my car here at 2.05pm and heard four gunshots.

“You hear a lot of gunshots now and then with the nearby army camp, but these were a lot closer.

“We knew these shots were near us. A few minutes later it was all Garda sirens,” the resident added.

The murder is believed part of a purge by the new alliance leadership of Real IRA members.

Butterly was regarded by Garda anti-terrorist officers as the leader of the Real IRA faction operating in the north Louth area.

In the past few months, Garda intelligence gathered that he had been sidelined by the New IRA alliance, which includes former Provisional IRA activists, Derry-based Republican Action Against Drugs and Real IRA.

The suspects were being questioned last night at Garda stations in north Dublin under the Offences Against the State Act.

factfile

The ‘New IRA’ blamed for Peter Butterly’s murder was responsible for murdering prison officer David Black near Lurgan last October and for the foiled mortar bomb attack in Londonderry this week. Butterly was arrested when gardai seized explosives and weapons in 2010. But the case collapsed when the Irish Supreme Court ruled his arrest warrant was unconstitutional.

http://www.herald.ie/news/attack-on-fat-freddies-brother-linked-to-killing-29113503.html

Ken Foy and Andrew Phelan – 06 March 2013 10:40 AM

IT was the vicious pub row that would have the gravest of consequences 18 months after the brutal brawl broke out.

When gardai discovered that associates of two opposing feuding factions faced off in a Dublin city centre bar in March, 2011, they knew it would lead to serious developments.

Especially as Ritchie Thompson – the older brother of 'Fat' Freddie Thompson – received a broken leg and Ritchie's wife Catherine was stabbed.

Ultimately it would mean that Gerard Eglington, the gangster who started the fight in the Karma Stone pub that night, would be shot dead in Portarlington, Co Laois, in front of his children last September.

Sources say that gardai are in "no doubt" that Eglington, who was 27 when he was shot dead, was targeted by the 'Fat' Freddie gang because of his role in the events of March 13, 2011.

However, it has been established that Richie and Catherine had no involvement in the savage killing.

Yesterday at Dublin Circuit Court yesterday Eglington's best friend, his long-term partner and her sister were sentenced for their role in the melee.

His close pal Kenneth Roche – who lost his brothers John and Noel to the bitter Crumlin/Drimnagh feud – was jailed for nine months for his part in the street melee.

The two sisters were given suspended sentences when they also admitted charges arising from the clash between the two groups that was linked to the Crumlin Drimnagh feud.



Savage

Kenneth Roche (22) was sent to prison while Danielle Nolan (22) and murder victim Eglington's girlfriend Kristle Nolan (28) had nine-month jail terms suspended for three years.

The court heard the "savage attack" happened when two rival groups met each other by chance at a city pub and spilled out onto the street.

The three accused had "associated" with people involved in the feud but were not directly involved, the court was told.

Roche, formerly of Abbotstown Avenue, Finglas, pleaded guilty to violent disorder at the Karma Stone pub, Wexford Street, on March 13, 2011.

His co-accused Kristle Nolan (28) of Lorcan O'Toole Park, Kimmage, Dublin, pleaded guilty to the same offence, while Danielle Nolan (22), of The Oaks, Kilnacourt, Portarlington, pleaded guilty to the less serious charge of affray.

Gerard Eglington, formerly of Kilnacourt Woods, Portarlington, had died in tragic circumstances, the court heard.

Defence counsel said Danielle Nolan only became involved because she knew Gerard Eglington. Her sister Kristle was his partner at the time.

Imposing the sentence on Roche, Judge Patrick McCartan said he needed to send out a message to anyone else who might be inclined to get involved in similar activity.

http://www.thesun.ie/irishsol/homepage/news/4828558/On-the-take-RIRA-thug-shot-dead-by-own-crew.html

On-the-take RIRA thug shot dead by own crew.

A CLOSE pal of slain mob boss Alan Ryan was lured to his death by republican terrorists yesterday.

The Irish Sun can reveal Peter Butterly, 34, was summoned to a meeting with Real IRA godfathers at the Huntsman Inn in Gormanston, Co Meath.

But a row erupted between the renegades before the dad-of-three was blasted in the chest and head in the pub’s car park around 2.15pm yesterday afternoon.

The Gardai’s elite Emergency Response Unit then swooped and arrested five men.

Three of those lifted — all well known to gardai and with close links to dissident republicans — were members of Ryan’s Dublin brigade. Officers recovered a firearm a short distance from the murder scene.

James Gibney's bar
Staff and customers at the busy bar were traumatised by the daylight shooting.

His wife Eithne was also left distraught yesterday after travelling to the murder scene.

Gardai believe Butterly was shot up to five times after he was accused of stealing cash from terrorist extortion rackets.

Dismissed A source said: “Butterly was dismissed from the Real IRA because he was accused of keeping money for himself.

“There was an order from the terrorists in the North to shoot him on sight but he thought he could sort something out.

“He was very close to Ryan and also travelled to Cork on occasions to speak at commemorations.

“The Real IRA leadership from the North are determined to keep Ryan’s cronies away from the organisation.

“The danger now is that this murder could lead to a full-blown feud.”

We can reveal Butterly was once the Real IRA’s representative in Co Louth.

But he was dismissed from the terror group last year after its new leaders launched a purge against Ryan’s old mob.

Three Dublin men are now running the group.

Two of Ryan’s pals have already been blasted in punishment shootings.

Another member of Ryan’s gang living in south inner city Dublin was warned by gardai he was being targeted by murdered godfather Eamon Kelly’s mob.

Officers from the Special Detective Unit have been on high alert in recent weeks over fears dissidents were set to turn their guns on each other.

They also fear the die-hard republicans were set to wage war against vicious drugs gangs.

And we can also reveal Butterly was caught with Ryan in a stolen car on the M1 motorway, last March.

Gardai believe the pair — both wearing two sets of surgical gloves — were on their way to collect weapons for a hit.

Butterly was previously charged with Real IRA membership and was linked to a huge explosives and arms find in 2010.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/new...s-29116896.html

TOM BRADY SECURITY EDITOR – 08 MARCH 2013

A LEADER of the New IRA alliance is believed to have ordered the pub car park hit on dissident terrorist Peter Butterly.


Butterly (35), the former head of the Real IRA in the Louth region, had been sidelined by the alliance in the past few months because they suspected he had pocketed some of their funds.

Gardai are satisfied that the Armagh-based leader chose a Dublin northside unit to carry out the shooting.

Butterly was lured to his death after receiving a phone call to meet some of his former associates.

Gardai were last night continuing to question five men, two from Balbriggan and the others from Raheny, Tallaght and Blanchardstown, about the killing.

All five were detained near the car park of the Huntsman Inn in Gormanston, Co Meath, where Butterly was shot dead around 2pm on Wednesday.

They were arrested by armed members of the Emergency Response Unit and the National Surveillance Unit, who were monitoring the movements of some of the suspects.

The officers did not see the shooting, but were quickly on the scene.

Butterly was sitting in his Renault Megane when two men drove into the car park in a Toyota Corolla. One of the attackers fired two shots into the Megane, and as Butterly struggled to get out and flee, two further shots were fired.

He fell to the ground as the two men sped off, throwing a 9mm handgun out of their car and over a hedge.

The Corolla was rammed by a garda car and the two suspects, aged 31 and 22, were arrested.

Two other men were detained when officers stopped an Opel car, and the fifth man was held after he arrived at the scene on foot. The three are aged 42, 33 and 28.

Two of the suspects are well-known to gardai as suspected dissidents and have been questioned in the past about other incidents including attacks ordered by another Real IRA faction boss, Alan Ryan, who was shot dead by drug traffickers last September.

One of the five men held is understood to have been injured in a shooting on the northside of Dublin last year.

Gardai believe two of the attackers were tasked with carrying out the shooting, two with setting fire to the getaway car and disposing of the weapon and the fifth was being deployed as a lookout.

Anti-terrorist officers believe Wednesday's murder is the latest in a series of shootings carried out for the alliance leadership.

They want to put their own discipline on members of the Real IRA, who were thought to have been skimming the profits from extortion and other fundraising crimes.

Mortar

The formation of the alliance last summer has resulted in an increase in violence in the North, including the murder of prison officer David Black and the foiled mortar bomb attack on a police station in Derry last weekend.

Some of the former Provisionals who have joined the Real IRA and Republican Action Against Drugs in the alliance have been blamed in the past for the murder of PSNI constable Ronan Kerr in Omagh in 2011 and the attempted murder of another constable and GAA player, Peadar Heffron, in Antrim in 2010.

A white Citroen Berlingo van, which had been fitted with a launch pad for the planned mortar bomb attack in Derry, had been bought in Dublin earlier this year.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/fiv...oup-224710.html

Five men arrested by gardaí near the scene in Co Meath were last night being questioned under anti-subversive legislation.

One man, in his 40s, was arrested close to the car park, and four others in their 20s were arrested when a car was stopped a short distance away on the Balscadden road. A handgun was also recovered and the car was seized.

The victim, Peter Butterly, drove into the car park at the Huntsman Inn, Gormanston, shortly after 2pm. A second car entered a few minutes later. The man was confronted by the occupants of the second car as he walked across the car park and shot a number of times.

Paramedics were unable to save his life and his body remained at the scene until 7pm last night when it was removed to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda for an autopsy by the assistant state pathologist Dr Khalid Jabbar.

The 35-year-old father, with an address in Togher, Dunleer, Co, Louth, was awaiting trial last year on charges of membership of the Real IRA when the case collapsed after the Supreme Court ruled a warrant used to search his home was unconstitutional.

Security sources said Butterly had been “one of the leaders” of the Real IRA.

They said that he was sidelined soon after his release following the creation last summer of a new alliance of dissident groups and the installation of new leaders. “He had fallen foul of the new leadership,” said a security source.

The grouping, which calls itself the IRA, comprises of Real IRA factions in Dublin and Derry, the Derry-based Republican Action Against Drugs, and independent republican groupings in East Tyrone and Belfast. Gardaí have also spotted the involvement of ex-Provisional IRA activists and former members of the Real IRA in the alliance.

Security sources said the leadership of the grouping has been trying to assert its control over members of the previous groups, many of which operated independently.

The new bosses have also been targeting one of the main Real IRA factions in Dublin, centred around north Dublin.

The leader of that outfit, Alan Ryan, was gunned down last September by rival criminal bosses, from whom he was trying to extort money.

The new alliance has been unhappy that most of the money collected by the Ryan faction was not going to the so-called military cause. Since Ryan’s murder, they have targeted a number of senior members of that gang. Two of them were subjected to punishment-style shootings in Dublin last November and last January.

Gardaí have appealed for anyone with information to contact Laytown Garda Station on 041 9813320 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666111.

http://www.thestar.ie/star/gardai-braced...killing-emerge/

Gardai were last night braced for a fresh wave of killings — after it emerged former associates of a terrorist gunned Peter Butterly down outside a pub in broad daylight.

As detectives questioned five suspects over the killing of Peter Butterly (35) on Wednesday, sources told The Star the former Real IRA member was blasted by members of his own gang.

Gardai are also investigating intelligence that the brutal hit was a direct result of the dissident pocketing cash that was meant for the Real IRA cause.

Hard-line elements of the group are determined to rid the organisation of
people that it deems undesirable.

The RIRA, led by Alan Ryan (32) until his murder in Dublin in September last year, had been infiltrated by mainstream criminals — but the group’s new leadership want to return to traditional republicanism and get rid of criminal elements.

Sources said the Real IRA is expected to target other former members who have been expelled in recent months.

“The new leadership are carrying out a purge,” a source said last night. “There are plenty of people within the
organisation that they want to kill.

“They believe there are a lot of bad apples and they are determined to get rid of them.”

Sources told The Star that Butterly, of Togher in Co Louth — gunned down at the Huntsman Inn in Gormanston, Co Meath on Wednesday — had been a target of the RIRA leadership for at least a year.

Four men whose car was stopped by gardai and arrested near the scene were still in custody last night, while another man, who was with Butterly in the car before he was shot, is also still being held.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/five-arrests-made-in-ryan-murder-case-29119040.html

09 MARCH 2013

FIVE people have been arrested and questioned as part of the investigation into the murder of dissident republican Alan Ryan, Dublin Coroner's Court has heard.

Ryan (32) from Grange Abbey Drive in Donaghmede, Dublin 13, was gunned down on the street at Grange Lodge Avenue, Clongriffin, in north Dublin on September 3 last year.

He was a leading member of the Real IRA in Dublin.

Requesting a further adjournment of the inquest into his death yesterday, Detective Inspector Seamus Boland said the investigation is still active.

Two people have been before the court on charges related to that investigation but these are not homicide charges, he said.

Coroner Dr Brian Farrell adjourned the inquest for further mention on July 29.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/l...d-29118589.html

8 MARCH 2013

One of five men arrested after a dissident republican was shot dead in a pub car park has been released without charge.

Gardai said a file was being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) over the killing of Peter Butterly outside the Huntsman inn, Gormanstown, Co Meath, on Wednesday.

The freed man was aged in his 30s and had been detained by detectives near the pub shortly after the murder.

Four other men, all in their 20s, arrested in a car as it fled the scene remain in custody. The suspects are all being detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.

A handgun was recovered following the murder.

Butterly, of Cortown, Togher, Dunleer in Co Louth, was a Real IRA figure and a father of two teenage girls and an infant son.

One line of inquiry was that Butterly was lured to his death as part of a bloody fall-out involving dissident republicans.

He was an associate of a Real IRA boss and convicted criminal Alan Ryan, who was shot dead in north Dublin last year.

Ryan's faction was involved in extortion and intimidation of drug dealers and racketeering against pub and club owners.

Butterly appeared before the non-jury Special Criminal Court last year accused of membership of the Real IRA but was freed on a technicality.

http://www.kildare-nationalist.ie/2012/10/09/pipe-bomb-defused-in-rathangan/

Criminal Action Force attack.

PIPE BOMB DEFUSED IN RATHANGAN.

RESIDENTS of a housing estate in Rathangan had to be evacuated after a pipe bomb was left in front of one of the homes.

Army bomb disposal experts were then called out to defuse the device, which was discovered at a house in the Temple Mills estate.

Local gardaí were notified of the discovery through the Garda Control and Command system in Dublin at around ….pm last

Thursday night and they proceeded to evacuate the residents of the house in question and those occupying neighbouring houses.

“This was a viable device which was left under a bench outside the front window of the house in question,” said Sgt John Flaherty of Kildare garda station.

Members of the Defence Forces’ Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team then moved in to make the device safe. “In fact, although they deemed it to be technically viable, it didn’t actually explode,” said Sgt Flaherty.

He went on to say that the gardaí are continuing their investigations into the incident, adding that the matter was a very serious one as the house in question was occupied at the time, as were adjacent homes.

“We are still trying to establish a motive for what could have been an extremely serious attack,” Sgt Flaherty said, adding that anybody who noticed any suspicous movements of vehicles or people in the area on Thursday evening, or who has any information about the incident, should contact Kildare garda station on … …….

The Temple Mills estate is one of the Rathangan area’s newer housing private housing developments, which is located on the Bracknagh road.

This is not the first occasion on which pipe bombs have been used to target homes in Co Kildare. A similar device was actually shoved through the letter-box of a house in Suncroft in July, while manufacturing and storage facilities for pipebombs have also been discovered in the county.

A bomb-making factory was discovered near Monasterevin in January of …. while in May of this year, five viable pipe bombs were discovered in a bogland area just outside Rathangan.

At the time, gardaí linked the find to Dublin gangland activities, claiming that the pipe bombs were destined for use in the city.

http://www.herald.ie/news/ira-man-was-betrayed-by-pal-in-car-park-feud-killing-29117825.html

IRA man was betrayed by pal in car park feud killing.

KEN FOY – 08 MARCH 2013 10:40 AM

IRA murder victim Peter Butterly was the victim of a shocking gangland triple-cross, it has emerged.

Senior sources have confirmed that not only was Butterly shot dead by a "motley band of Alan Ryan thugs" but the man he considered a close friend betrayed him.

Dad-of-three Butterly (35) was murdered on Wednesday afternoon outside the Huntsman Inn at Gormanston, Co Meath.

Sources say he had earlier attended a meeting with other IRA figures in the pub and he was shot as he got into his Renault Laguna car.

Butterly attempted to flee but was "shot down like a dog" in the pub car park. A senior source told the Herald: "What happened in Gormanston gives a new meaning to murder most foul. This was a dirty, dirty, horrible murder."

The gangsters who killed Butterly had connections to murdered Real IRA terror chief Alan Ryan and one of Ryan's best friends is suspected of being the trigger man.

They have addresses in Tallaght, Blanchardstown, Raheny and the south inner city areas of the capital.

Ryan's mate is a dangerous thug aged in his early 20s and is one of five men still in custody today.

All are expected to face various serious charges.

Shocked

However, what has shocked everyone is that the man Butterly considered to be his close is one of those in custody – he is being questioned about his friend's murder today at a garda station in Co Meath.

The West Dublin criminal is a well-known dissident Republican who previously survived an assassination attempt by Alan Ryan's mob.

A senior source explained: "There may well have been talk that this man was lucky to escape with his life when Ryan's cronies murdered Butterly. But gardai believe that he was at the centre of the plot. He was arrested close to the scene – the gang were attempting to hand him over the gun when he was lifted.

"Maybe his own life was under threat and he felt he had to do this but even gardai are sickened by this man's behaviour."

The Herald can reveal that his home was raided by armed officers yesterday evening while gardai got an extension to the time he can be held in custody. Nothing of evidential value was seized in the search which lasted for over an hour. His long term partner was said to be "very upset" at developments and she had even considered reporting him as a missing person before learning of his arrest.

IRA man Peter Butterly (35) 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 last September.

Sources say Butterly, who lived almost 20 kilometres away in Dunleer, Co Louth, regularly held meetings in the carpark of the Huntstown Inn and considered it a "safe place."

The murdered IRA man was under regular surveillance by the garda Special Detective Unit as were the mob involved in his murder.

Butterly and Alan Ryan's RIRA mob became mortal enemies over two years ago when they became embroiled in a number of major cash disputes.