Gardaí examine possibility of Real IRA retaliation to Vincent Ryan murder

A dissident group linked to the Real IRA said it was “the duty of all republicans” to stop the cycle of violence that resulted in the shooting dead of Vincent Ryan on Monday.

The call from the 32 County Sovereignty Movement comes as senior gardaí try to assess the likelihood of retaliation by the Real IRA.

Detectives suspect the 25-year-old victim was murdered on the orders of the same crime bosses who shot dead his brother, Alan Ryan, the then Dublin leader of the Real IRA, in September 2012.

But gardaí have not ruled out the possibility that Vincent Ryan may have been murdered as part of an internal dissident feud.

Gardaí are concerned for the safety of other associates of the brothers, some of whom have already been threatened and assaulted, both at the hands of criminal rivals and dissidents.

Vincent Ryan, a father-of-one, was shot dead in his car on McKee Road in Finglas, north Dublin, shortly after 3pm on Monday. He had just dropped off his girlfriend and her baby daughter at her home. As he sat in the driver’s seat, another car, described as a silver/grey VW Golf, approached and a gunman opened fire, hitting him at least three times in the chest and head.

He was rushed to the Mater Hospital but surgeons were unable to save his life.

The 32 CSM, a republican political organisation linked to the Real IRA, offered condolences to the Ryan family, which it said had lost “volunteer” Alan Ryan only a few years ago.

“Words cannot express the magnitude of the loss Vincent’s death must mean to his family, having suffered the tragedy of his brother Volunteer Alan Ryan’s death a few years previously,” the organisation posted on its Facebook page.

“This violence is insidious and must stop. It is the duty of all republicans to ensure that it does.”

Alan Ryan, 32, was the effective leader of the Real IRA in Dublin when he was gunned down in Clongriffin in September 2012 on the orders of two of north Dublin’s biggest drug traffickers.

These crime bosses, a 34-year-old from Donnycarney and a 49-year-old originally from Coolock, operate a massive network and boast extensive criminal contacts.

As one of them is currently in prison, gardaí are concentrating on locating the second crime boss.

Gardaí are concerned for the safety of a number of other associates of the Ryan brothers, most of whom were kicked out of the Real IRA and suffered violent punishment attacks.

Another former associate, Declan Smith, 31, was shot dead outside a creche in Donaghmede, north Dublin, in March 2014.

It is not clear if that attack was carried out by criminal rivals or by dissident republicans.

Senior gardaí are assessing whether or not there will be a revenge attack by the Real IRA, given Vincent’s uncertain position within the organisation. This is despite the public statement of support and sympathy by the 32 CSM.

Either way, sources said they will brace for retaliation on members of the rival crime gangs.

In addition, senior gardaí will draw up a security operation for the funeral once the remains are released and arrangements are made.