DISSIDENT republican group Irish Republican Voice turned out on Friday night for a fundraising event in a Dublin pub.
The breakaway group which formed after a split in dissident republican circles following the murder of Alan Ryan are trying to raise cash to grow their organisation.
Leader James McDonagh, a close pal of Ryan, was among those in attendance at the event which took place in the Barn House pub in Dolphin’s Barn on Friday night.
He was joined by pals including Darren Whelan, Darren Gleeson and Hazel McDermott at the event which was only attended in small numbers.
Gleeson is a relative of cousins Gary and Christy ‘Git’ Gleeson who were among three men shot and injured in a gun attack in Blanchardstown in 2011 following a localised dispute.
IRV are the political wing of a new armed group calling themselves Saoirse na hEireann.
The group elected an army council in recent weeks and vowed to carry out an armed campaign.
They are the prime suspects behind an attack on Carlo Meloni who was injured in a gun attack in Coolock three weeks ago.
Meloni is believed to have been targeted because of his links to a group of traveller criminals who had tried to intimidate members of Irish Republican Voice.
Growing
A large number of members of that traveller gang have since been arrested for an unrelated matter.
Republican sources say IRV/Saoirse na hEireann have recruited significant members in recent weeks including a well known former Continuity IRA man from Ballyfermot in west Dublin.
They have also recruited CIRA members from Belfast, Cork and other areas.
A source said: “A lot of the CIRA lads have joined up with them now and they’re growing in numbers. Around seven members of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement from Ballyfermot have also joined up. Members of Saoirse na hEireann are attending meetings but they’re not going to the IRV protests.
“So numbers look small at protests but there are a lot more people in the background.”
James McDonagh is the leader of the IRV group and has made a number of visits to Portlaoise Prison in recent weeks to speak to former Real IRA members who have joined up with IRV.
These include Declan Geraghty who is serving a sentence for firearms possession.
He was accompanied to the prison by Trevor Conlon whose cousin Colin John Conlon was jailed for five years in 2007 for possession of an improvised explosive device at the M1 motorway at Cloghran, Co Dublin on November 25, 2005.
