Yeah I know about Eddie but focused on Mickey Spillane in my original post. I just wondered why he got shot. Was it cos of his role in the grabs? Cos he felt Gotti and his crew never had him down as part of that crew so I just wondered if Eddie just pissed too many guys off cos the way I hear it he was a brash and surly kinda guy.

He was close pals to James McBratney who was a very tough guy and pretty smart for an Irish shmuck. He knew he was waiting for that final deliberation of a trigger pull but like most Irish crooks he couldn't give two fecks.

Downfall of the Irish is they can never stay away from a bar for too long so unlike the Ginnies we ain't exactly the hardest guys to track down

He was a drinking buddy of my Uncle actually when he first moved from Ireland and briefly lived on west 46th street near McHales which was owned by a family with a long history on the west side.

Great bar, was used for that scene in Sleepers where that creep got shot by that character who was based on Richie Ryan who died young due to hard living in HK as did Jackie Coonan who had a great sense of humour according to those that knew him.

Remember a story about some Irish muscle accompanying some Ginnies on a haul that was all set up for them. All they had to do was wait outside and act as muscle if the guy who owned the joint returned with his crew but when the Italians came out the Irish guys had five guys pinned to the wall and swagged each one of their wallets.

Why the fuck you do that? the Italian guy says. The Irish guy replied "We got bored, we're in it for the action, you guys are boring, everything just comes to you on a plate .".

That's probably why the Irish were so into the kidnappings and bank scores. They loved the action. The Canadians were the same the West End crew were the most professional bank robbers in Canada even the Cops respected them for their expertise.

In the 20th Century most of the biggest bank scores were done by the Irish. First thing the IRA done when they brokered the peace was the northern bank robbery which had been planned for years.

I often laugh when people underestimate the Irish as small time. Whitey, scumbag as he may have been used this to his advantage. Reality is the Irish were much more organised than many on this forum will ever really know. I mean, I know a second story guy who became a millionaire through investing in property and none of the connections, sons, cousins or whatever you wanna call em they ain't the Westies but the're making one hell of a living and still have a big role in construction (as do the Italians).