Gardaí to keep watch at gangland murder funeral

GARDAÍ will keep watch this afternoon at the funeral of one of three men murdered last week in a violent gangland feud.

Darren Geoghegan, 26, from Galtymore Road in Drimnagh, was shot dead along with fellow gang member Gavin Byrne in Firhouse, south Dublin, last Sunday week.

Geoghegan’s funeral is being held at noon today at the Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Drimnagh.

The funeral mass for Byrne, 30, from Windmill Park in Crumlin, will take place tomorrow at St Agnes Church at 10am.

Their bodies were released on Saturday and wakes were held over the weekend at the homes of their immediate families.

The two men were executed on the orders of the leaders of a rival gang. In retaliation, their bosses carried out a revenge attack, shooting dead Crumlin man Noel Roche, 27, in Clontarf, north Dublin, last Tuesday.

The three murders brought to seven the number of people killed as a result of a feud between two gangs in the Drimnagh and Crumlin areas.

Garda sources yesterday said they would maintain a “low key” presence at both funerals.

Meanwhile, gardaí yesterday released without charge a man arrested last Thursday in connection with the shooting of Roche.

The 32-year-old Drimnagh man was the driver of the car in which Roche was found dead. He managed to escape and handed himself in to gardaí on Thursday.

Gardaí told a sitting of Dublin District Court on Saturday that he had not answered any questions. Gardaí were seeking an additional 24 hours’ detention to question the man.

The man was protected by armed gardaí and bulletproof shields entering and leaving the court.

Sources yesterday indicated that, contrary to speculation, he did not agree to be taken into the State’s secretive Witness Protection Programme.

In a bid to clamp down on the feud, Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy last Wednesday set up a special unit, Operation Steel, to deal with gang crime.

The unit carried out 27 searches on the homes of people associated with gang members last Thursday and Friday followed by more searches over the weekend.

Garda sources said the core members of the two gangs had gone to ground.

Gardaí are also looking for a further 30 to 45 people who are involved in the fringes of the gangs.

Technical and ballistic experts will continue examinations this week on firearms used in the murders. The handguns were severely burned, but could possibly, along with other items, provide DNA or forensic evidence.