Shadowy trio put in charge of IRA in city by North chiefs.
KEN FOY, CRIME CORRESPONDENT – 15 FEBRUARY 2013 10:40 AM
THREE Dublin men including a veteran Republican have been appointed by the IRA's Northern leadership to direct operations in the captial.
The three shadowy figures have been chosen because of their ability to keep off the garda radar as well as their "staunch Republicanism", said a source.
The middle-aged men have addresses in the Finglas, Tallaght and Coolock areas of the city.
The Finglas man escaped serious armed robbery charges in the North in the 1990s in connection with a £300,000 raid on a supermarket.
A source said: "This so-called organisation is no longer using the Real IRA tag – they just call themselves the IRA now."
It is understood the trio have come to the attention of detectives who have been investigating the punishment shootings of slain RIRA boss Alan Ryan's former pals Declan 'Fat Deccy' Smith (30), who was shot in the leg last month in Saggart, and Nathan Kinsella (33), who was kneecapped in Ballyfermot in November.
It is not thought that they carried out the shootings but instead oversaw operations.
The Herald previously was briefed on internal plans to remove a number of those who were close to Ryan after the dissidents drew up a chilling hit-list of 13 Dublin-based gangsters.
A high-level dissident source told the Herald that more than 10 more IRA figures in the Dublin area will be removed as they are deemed too much of a "risk" to the organisation.
"We were shocked when we came down and saw the type of s*** that Ryan had running the show. They are nothing short of rabble and they have no place in the organisation," the source explained.
Mob
It is understood the 'appointment' of the three middle-aged Dubliners is all part of the Northern leadership's plans to clean up the mob.
The attack on 'Fat Deccy' last month followed the shooting of alleged Real IRA man Nathan Kinsella in November last year.
Kinsella was kneecapped despite the fact that he was a close friend of murdered Real IRA boss Alan Ryan, who was assassinated in September last year. It is understood Ryan was on his way to see Declan Smith when he was gunned down in Clongriffin, north Dublin.
Smith was present in the horrible aftermath of the targeted assassination and stood watching as paramedics desperately tried in vain to save Ryan's life.
Following Ryan's death, Smith attempted to muscle into the mob's operations but ended up being kicked out of the organisation with weeks.
And was shot over a bitter "missing money dispute" and also to teach him a lesson.
Some of Smith's associates are wanted for questioning by the PSNI about the murders in 2007 of Edward Burns (36) and Joe Jones (38).
