Fears Real IRA group and drug gang feud to escalate

GARDAÍ fear a violent feud between a notorious Real IRA group and the remnants of one of Dublin’s biggest drug gangs is about to escalate.

The dissident republican faction — led by two brothers — is using the cloak of anti-drug vigilantism to target a pub owned by one of the leaders of the gang formerly led by murdered crime boss Eamon Dunne.

The Real IRA faction — which gardaí say is a criminal outfit first and paramilitary group second — has muscled its way into gangland crime in recent years and has been engaged in shootings, extortion and door security.