Gardaí policing parts of Dublin that have witnessed several murders as the Kinahan-Hutch gangland feud worsens are concerned that some of those obviously at risk have failed to take basic security precautions.
Officers say men regarded as being part of the “Hutch faction” are socialising in the same pubs and keeping much the same routine, despite their lives being at risk.
There is also particular concern that the Kinahan gang has decided a wide group of people linked to murdered Gary Hutch are now legitimate targets in the feud.
Senior gardaí in the city believe the Kinahan gang have suspicions that a large number of people were involved in the planning and execution of the attack on the Regency Hotel, Drumcondra, north Dublin, in February.
“So far it’s not a feud in the sense that one killing leads to another side hitting back,” said one source.
“You have one group here that seems set on wiping out the other side. And because they seem to think anyone who was mixed in with Gary Hutch, or could possibly have had involvement in the Regency attack, is fair game.”
Surprise expressed
Gardaí have also expressed surprise at the frequency of the attacks since David Byrne’s killing at the Regency.
“It isn’t new that these people would commit murders in the middle of a major [Garda] operation or that a large number of people would be killed during something like this,” said one source who has policed several gangland feuds in both Dublin and Limerick.
“But the speed of this is a worry - and it’s something we haven’t seen before.”
The same sources said it was not necessarily the case that the so-called New IRA dissident paramilitaries would now become involved in the feud because of the murder of Michael Barr (35) in the Sunset House, Summerhill Parade, Dublin 1.
Gardaí suspected Barr had helped to source the AK47s used in the Regency attack, carried out by associates of Gary Hutch in an act of revenge for his murder at the hands of the Kinahan gang in southern Spain last September.
While Co Tyrone man Barr (35) had been cleared only last year of membership of an illegal organisation, gardaí believe he had been cut off by his former paramilitary associates.
That meant they were “unlikely to go to war” with the Kinahans over his murder.
An excuse
However, the same sources said it was still possible a dissident group would issue a statement in coming days and claim Barr as a member simply to use his killing as an excuse to aid the Hutch side of the feud.
“We are pretty clear at this stage the guns from the Regency came from the North so it looks like there has already been [dissident] involvement in this,” said one garda regarding the feud.
Gardaí have long believed men close to Gary Hutch committed robberies down the years with the support of the Provisional IRA - some of whose former members are now dissidents.
With that relationship already having resulted in the suspected supply of firearms to Gary Hutch’s associates for the Regency attack, it was possible further and more direct assistance would be offered, disguised as revenge for Barr’s killing on Monday night.