THE FUNERAL MASS for Noel Duggan, the latest victim of a Dublin gangland feud, was held this morning.
The 56-year-old grandfather was shot dead at his Ratoath home on Wednesday night. He was ambushed while sitting in his car and shot five times by a man armed with a handgun. He had just pulled into the driveway in front of his home in the Old Mill housing estate.
Duggan, a close friend of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch who was known as ‘Mr Kingsize’ during his cigarette smuggling days, was buried in Ratoath Cemetery following a service at the Holy Trinity Church.
Mourners were led by his wife Belinda, sons Garreth and Darren and daughter Nicola. He is also survived by four grandchildren: Luke, Liam, Jessica and Sean.
His funeral notice said “he will be sadly missed by his family, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, extended family and friends”. The family has asked for donations to a hospice in lieu of flowers.
There was a security presence during today’s service involving armed units of the gardaí.
Gangland feud
Although gardaí said publicly they had “no intelligence” Duggan’s life was at risk, TheJournal.ie understands they spoke to the father-of-three shortly after the murder of Eddie Hutch in early February – a hit believed to be in retaliation for the Regency Hotel shooting in which Kinahan associate David Byrne was killed.
The Kinahan and Hutch families are locked in a feud that has escalated in recent months.
Duggan is a former criminal who had not been involved in the gangland scene. He has been described as a soft target for the Kinahan gang.
He had been involved in cigarette smuggling and in the past made a significant settlement with the Criminal Assets Bureau. But over the last 10 years he had taken a step back from the criminal world and lived a quiet life with his family at their home in Ratoath.
Locals in Ratoath said Duggan was a quiet and unassuming man who got on well with his neighbours.
“He never hid himself within the village, even though everyone knew from a long time back that he had a criminal associations through the cigarettes. He’d be an older style criminal, so didn’t do anything in Ratoath to bring attention to himself,” independent councillor Nick Killian said.
With reporting by Michelle Hennessy
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