Gardai last night mounted armed checkpoints around the Co Galway towns of Ballinasloe and Mountbellew to prevent violence at the funeral today of Mr Patrick Ward (38), the Traveller who was shot dead at a graveyard in Ballymote on Monday.
Hundreds of gardai have been drafted into the area from surrounding towns and from as far away as Co Leitrim and Co Westmeath for the operation.
Some weapons were seized at one checkpoint in the area early yesterday evening. Gardai also obtained a District Court order closing all licensed premises in the two towns and in surrounding villages last night and today.
The garda heading the operation, Supt Frank Gunter, said he was confident there was a strong enough Garda presence to prevent "any reactivation of the feud" between the Ward and McDonagh families today.
The removal of the remains of Mr Ward from Sligo General Hospital passed off without incident yesterday afternoon. He will be buried in Mountbellew after a funeral Mass at St Michael's Church, Ballinasloe.
Four of the six men arrested in Claregalway within hours of the shooting were released yesterday without charge. The other two remain in custody.
Armed gardai were stationed around Sligo General Hospital yesterday as Mr Ward's remains were removed.
Only members of the immediate family attended and just four vehicles followed the hearse as it headed for Ballinasloe.
Another man who was shot close to the graveyard minutes after Mr Ward's murder remains in intensive care in Sligo. It is believed he may have accidentally shot himself as he ran from the scene.
Mr Ward, a father of six boys aged between 10 and 17, was shot dead as he waited outside the graveyard in Ballymote for the funeral of his uncle, also named Patrick Ward, to arrive from Dublin. One son witnessed the shooting.
The victim, originally from the Mountbellew area but living in Manchester, had travelled from England for his uncle's funeral. The shooting is being linked to the long-running feud between the Ward and McDonagh families.
There were distraught scenes at the morgue as Mr Ward's coffin was removed. His elderly mother was overcome with grief.
It is now known that there were fewer than 40 gardai on duty in Ballymote on Monday at the time of the shooting. At previous Traveller funerals in the town about 200 gardai were deployed.
Gardai have appealed for anyone with information to contact them at the incident room in Sligo on 071 57070.