TO SOME PEOPLE, the Hutch-Kinahan feud is a game, where human lives lost are interchangeable with points.
By that token, it’s 4-1 to the Kinahans.
Of course, that view not only reduces the death of Martin O’Rourke – an innocent man not involved in the ‘gangland scene’ shot dead in broad daylight – to a numbers game, but also ignores the many terrified witnesses to the Regency Hotel shooting (one journalist had a gun pointed in his face).
Make no mistake, this latest chapter in Dublin’s criminal story is no trivial matter to be decided amongst ‘themselves’.
The story so far
Back in 2014, a member of the Kinahan crime gang Gerard ‘Hatchet’ Kavanagh was killed in Spain because senior members of the gang believed he had been stealing from them.
The same fate awaited his brother, Paul Kavanagh, who was shot in broad daylight in Drumcondra last March.
In September last year, Gary Hutch was shot dead at an apartment complex in Miraflores, Spain. It is believed he too was suspected of pocketing money from the Kinahans.
What seemed like the isolated murder of a known criminal figure on foreign soil was actually the precursor of violence on the streets of Dublin.
In February, a gang of six men, some dressed as armed gardaí, entered a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel in Drumcondra and opened fire. Their target was Daniel Kinahan who escaped. His associate David Byrne did not. He was shot and killed.
Three days later and not ten minutes’ drive away from The Regency, Eddie Hutch was gunned down at his home in Ballybough.
Hutch was the brother of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch, once one of the most infamous names in Irish crime.
Who’s who
The Kinahan cartel is considered the most powerful drug gang in the history of the State, headed by 57-year-old Christy Kinahan, dubbed ‘The Dapper Don’.
The Hutch family name is a staple of serious crime in Ireland.
This is down mainly to the activities of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch who was the prime suspect, but always denied any involvement, in two of Ireland’s most notorious armed robberies – a IR£1.7 million Securicor robbery in 1987 and a £3 million Brinks depot robbery in 1995.
He has denied involvement in both. His settlement with the Criminal Assets Bureau was about tax, not crime, he says.
The latest chapter
Last night at around 9.30pm, two gunmen entered The Sunset House in Summerhill in Dublin.
Within minutes, 34-year-old Michael Barr was dead.
A silver Audi A6, with a 04 C 17738 reg, sped from the scene along the Ballybough Road, passing Croke Park on its left, turning onto Richmond Road and across onto Walsh Road.
The car was found burned out later and it is believed those inside left Walsh Road in the direction of Home Farm Road in another silver-coloured saloon car.
Immediately, gardaí knew it had some link to the Kinahan-Hutch feud.
As it transpired, the victim was Michael Barr, a man gardaí believe was behind the logistics and planning of the Regency Hotel shooting, which claimed the life of David Byrne, a Kinahan gang member.
Just last week, gardaí from Ballymun had raided his home.
Barr, 34, was due in court this Thursday to face sentencing after admitting to charges of handling stolen goods at the Special Criminal Court. He was arrested in July 2014 at Finnstown Castle Hotel in Lucan and charged with membership of the IRA.
Despite that charge being dropped, it was known that Barr was a leading figure in the dissident Republican movement and an associate of the Hutch gang.
Garda sources say that the Kinahan cartel have vowed revenge on everyone involved in the hotel shooting. With six gunmen and at least as many involved in the planning, the prospect of a halt to the bloodshed is not close.
Last night’s shooting comes just a month after Noel Duggan, a close friend of The Monk’s, was shot dead in his driveway in Ratoath in Meath.
Nicknamed ‘Mr Kingsize’, Duggan was heavily involved in cigarette smuggling. In the past, he made a significant settlement with the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB). The agency confiscated a Dublin city centre premises as part-payment for the €4 million bill.
However, like Eddie Hutch, he was seen as a “soft target” as the Kinahans attempt to lure Gerry Hutch into retaliation.
Less than two weeks ago, Martin O’Rourke, a 24-year-old father of one was shot on Dublin’s Sheriff Street. He had no links to Dublin’s criminal underworld and was shot by a gunman believed to be targeting one of those involved in the Regency Hotel shooting.
The next step
Many observers have questioned why the Hutch gang have not hit back for the most recent killings.
While the signs of a retaliation have been minimal as yet, gardaí are preparing for the Hutch gang to make their next move. They are worried that the feud will escalate, and that the Hutch gang will attempt another large-scale attack on the Kinahans.
Garda sources say that immediate retaliation is “not (Gerry) Hutch’s style”. They maintain that Hutch will bide his time to strike against the Kinahans, but are adamant that retaliation is coming.
“There’s no way he’s letting all of this slide without doing something,” a garda source said.
“The worry is what he’ll do.”
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