A MEMORIAL SERVICE planned for this weekend to mark the anniversary of the death of Real IRA crime boss Alan Ryan has prompted “concern” amongst locals in north Dublin, according to a councillor.
The 31-year-old dissident was shot dead in Clongriffin a year ago today.
There was outrage in the area after his funeral after men and women dressed in paramilitary gear fired a volley of shots over the convicted criminal’s coffin as it was being removed from a house on Grange Abbey Drive.
Justice Minister Alan Shatter issued a strongly worded condemnation of the events, saying that they were “reprehensible and absolutely unacceptable”.
A memorial march is being planned by dissident republicans at Balgriffin cemetary this Saturday. It’s understood a major security operation has been prepared in advance of the event, with hundreds of gardaí on standby.
A garda spokesperson told TheJournal.ie that preparations “would be made locally”, with management ensuring there are “sufficient resources to deal with any public order offences”.
Pat Crimmins, a Fine Gael councillor for Donaghmede, said he had been speaking to residents in the area, and that there was “some concern” over the planned march.
“I’m sure gardaí will take measures, but you can’t stop it,” he said.
Crimmins said many locals were satisfied with the garda response to the events at the funeral last year as “it could have got very nasty” if the force had stepped in.
There was a heavy garda presence at Ryan’s funeral at Donaghmede’s Church of the Holy Trinity last September. Prominent dissident Colin Duffy – who was acquitted last year on charges of murder over the 2009 Massereene Barracks shootings - made the graveside oration.
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