An 18-year-old man who witnessed the gangland feud murder of Frankie Ryan in Limerick has been released without charge.
The teenager had been held by gardaí for two days under Section 30 of the offences Against the State Act. It is understood he was in the same car as Ryan, who was shot last Sunday in Moyross.
The man fled the scene but was later arrested and questioned by detectives about withholding information on the murder.
Sources have indicated that the teenager was in an extreme state of shock when he was arrested and he was fortunate to escape the murder scene alive. He had only recently become involved with criminal elements in the feud, although he was arrested several weeks ago following a brawl at Limerick District Court.
The gangland killing of 21-year-old Ryan was the sixth murder in the bloody Limerick feud in as many years. Ryan had aligned himself to the notorious McCarthy/Dundon gang who are involved in a vicious turf war in Limerick with the Keane/Collopy faction.
Gardaí are still hunting for the chief suspect in the murder - a 22-year-old violent criminal who was recently released from prison. It is thought he may have been hired to carry out the assassination and that he has no particular allegiance to either faction in the feud. Gardaí believe he was involved in the murder of nightclub doorman Brian Fitzgerald outside his Corbally home in 2002. He has also previously boasted that he would have no hesitation in paying vast sums of money to have people who crossed him killed.
Meanwhile, the funeral of Frankie Ryan will take place in Limerick today. He will be buried in Mount St Oliver Cemetery following 11am Requiem Mass at Corpus Christi Church in Moyross.