Family appeals for end to bloody gangland feud

THE family of a young man murdered in a gangland-style hit yesterday appealed for an end to a feud that has so far left seven dead.

At the funeral Mass for 26-year-old Darren Geoghegan, his family asked to be associated with a plea from the pulpit for an end to the cycle of violence.

“When a cycle of killing and despair is at work, there is no way of knowing for whom the bell will yet toll,” said Fr Martin Cosgrave, parish priest for Drimnagh, home to the majority of those involved in the devastating cocaine-fuelled feud.

Gardaí maintained a highly visible presence, but at a distance, as Mr Geoghegan’s coffin arrived at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in the south Dublin area.

Approximately a dozen uniformed gardaí were stationed around the church during the funeral Mass as a helicopter hovered overhead.

Hundreds of people attended the Mass in what is one of the largest churches in the capital. They included family and friends of the father-of-one, who was shot dead along with 30-year-old Gavin Byrne as they sat in a car at Firhouse a week ago Sunday.

In what appears to have been a revenge attack the following Tuesday, Noel Roche, also from Drimnagh and the brother of a man murdered earlier this year, was shot dead on the Clontarf Road in north Dublin.

During the funeral mass, members of Mr Geoghegan’s family called for prayers for all the young men who have died in the feud. They called for it to end.

Groups of young men, some in street gear of hoodies and tracksuits, maintained a respectful silence as Fr Cosgrave, his voice rising, issued a further appeal in his name and the family’s.

“We dare to hope that wiser counsels will prevail. We dare to hope that there will be an end to death and to the destruction of young human life.

“For this hope to be realised, strong, strong courage will be needed. This will require gifts of constructive leadership.

“In the name our community, I appeal in the name of our common humanity to anybody who has influence of any kind to try and bring these deadly activities to an end.

“Otherwise we will have more young deaths, more children orphaned, more families decimated. It does not bear thinking about,” said Fr Cosgrave.

One member of the family read out a letter written some years ago to Mr Geoghegan by his worried grandmother Gail.

In it, she expressed her love for the young man but also a fear that he was heading down a dangerous path. She appealed to him to stay out of trouble.

Following the funeral Mass, Mr Geoghegan was cremated at Newland’s Cross Cemetery in Ballymount, where the remains of other victims of the deadly feud are also held.

A special garda task force was set up last week following the third murder. Fifty members will be attached to the squad.

A key objective will be to try and overcome difficulties in securing convictions against Dublin criminals by persuading gang members to turn State’s witness.

The driver of the car in which Noel Roche was travelling when he was shot dead has been released without charge after being arrested on suspicion of withholding information.