THE FATHER OF dissident republican Michael Barr, who was shot dead at the Sunset House pub in Dublin last April, has said his family is living in fear after news reports linked his son to the shooting at the Regency Hotel last year.
Kinahan gang associate David Byrne was shot dead at the hotel in February last year during a boxing weigh-in. It was reported in recent days that Barr was one of the men involved in the shooting and had posed as an armed garda.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Liveline, Collie Barr said members of his family are “living in fear of their lives” since the link between his son and the murder of the Kinahan figure was made.
“They believe now they are targets,” he said, making particular reference to his two daughters who he said were in “hysterics” over the weekend.
“One daughter will not even go to the shop, and she wants to cancel a holiday. They’re thinking of moving out of Ireland altogether.”
The grieving father also revealed the Police Service of Northern Ireland informed him before Christmas that there had been a threat made against his life.
They told me I was going to be murdered, I have to live with that.
While he acknowledged that “Michael was no angel” and had been a member of the IRA, he said there was “not a chance” his son was involved in the Byrne’s murder.
In May last year, Eamonn Cumberton of Mountjoy Street, Dublin 1, was charged with Barr’s murder. The 29-year-old will be tried before the Special Criminal Court.
“The impact has been absolutely awful. My daughters and my ex-wife – it was her son and their brother – and their hearts are broken and now they’re terrified for their lives.”
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