Gardaí test three AK47s seized in Regency Hotel shooting breakthrough

Gardaí believe they have made a major breakthrough in the investigation into the Regency Hotel murder of gang boss David Byrne.

They arrested a known dissident on Wednesday night and seized three AK47s, similar to the ones used by gunmen dressed as gardaí at the north Dublin hotel on February 4.

Crumlin gang figure David Byrne, a ‘lieutenant’ in the Kinahan crime cartel, was shot dead in the attack.

Daniel Kinahan, the elder son of Christopher Kinahan, the leader of the cartel, escaped death after he jumped out a hotel window with his bodyguard.

Gardaí believe the attack was carried out by members of the Hutch gang in retaliation for the shooting dead of Gary Hutch in Spain last September.

The Kinahan cartel exacted revenge four days later when they gunned down Edward Hutch — uncle of Gary and brother of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch — at his home in the north inner city.

The detective team at Ballymun Garda Station has made significant progress in its investigation, including the identification of the entire six-man gang involved in the Regency attack.

And they secured a major breakthrough on Wednesday evening when intelligence was received about a person of interest in Co Meath. A team from the Special Detective Unit stopped the man’s car near Slane and conducted a search, retrieving three AK47s.

The 39-year-old man from Co Donegal, a known dissident republican, was arrested and detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. The weapons were taken to the technical bureau at Garda HQ in Phoenix Park on Wednesday night and underwent ballistics and forensic tests yesterday.

“This is a huge positive for the investigation. “The guns were brought to the depot to test fire and see if they match the shells and bullets from the Regency,” said a senior garda source.

The weapons will also be subject to fingerprint and DNA analysis.

Gardaí suspect that one of the six-man gang, known as the ‘flat cap’ man, who was photographed running from the Regency with an accomplice dressed as a woman, supplied the three automatic weapons. This 46-year-old man from Co Tyrone was a former member of the Provisional IRA and, post-ceasefire, joined a range of dissident groupings including the Continuity IRA. It is thought he took the weapons from one of these groupings without authorisation.

Gardaí have identified the remaining members of the six-man gang, many from the north inner city.

It is understood after the gang made their getaway they got into their own cars and were captured doing so on CCTV.

Gardaí later seized four of the cars and conducted forensic tests on them.