The three wise men? Yokes? The million-dollar man? What is it Gerry Hutch finds so funny? 

Regency Hotel accused laughs in court as he hears tapes of a conversation — apparently between him and Jonathan Dowdall — after a bid to get republicans to broker a gangland ceasefire 

A prison van under garda escort arriving at the Special Criminal Court today, Wednesday, where the trial of Gerry Hutch, for the murder of David Byrne, is continuing. Mr Hutch has pleaded not guilty. Picture: Collins Courts

“All the same, if the cops are following us, you’d know like a light.”

This is a sentence uttered by a man the State claims is Jonathan Dowdall, speaking to Gerry ‘the Monk’ Hutch while gardaí had secretly attached a tracker and a listening device to his car. Indeed, the court has already heard from more than a dozen surveillance gardaí who were following Dowdall’s Land Cruiser on that day.

At the non-jury Special Criminal Court today (Wednesday), the trial continued to hear the tapes of the recordings of Dowdall and Hutch as they drove through the North to meet with republicans — the “three wise men, the three chiefs” as Hutch put it — to try to broker a peace deal with the Kinahans amid the gang feud that was escalating at the time.

The pair speak very quickly in Dublin accents, their conversation liberally sprinkled with profanities. The word “c**t” was uttered at least 41 times, and “fuck” or “fucking” at least 86 times.

Sitting in court, Hutch appeared to be enjoying himself, smiling serenely and laughing at various points. He particularly seemed to enjoy listening to himself refer to himself as the “million-dollar man”, in reference to the apparent price on his head from the Kinahans.

Having listened to over six hours of recordings now, a lot more has emerged from what the prosecution says is one of the “core” parts of its case. Over the course of the tapes, it is extremely rare for a silence to linger for long. More often than not, it is Dowdall who breaks the silences, asking for Hutch’s opinion on something or telling a story.

The topics of conversation repeatedly drift back to a few core points – the hope for peace with the Kinahans and the “yokes”. The prosecution alleges that these “yokes” are the three AK-47 style weapons used in the Regency Hotel. Just two days after this meeting with republicans on March 7, gardaí found the guns in the boot of a car. The man driving was sentenced for possession of the guns and membership of the IRA.

As for who they are meeting up North, nicknames are constantly mentioned. Fish. Wee. Fluff. The clear hope was for these republicans, and reference is made to an army council at one point, to help broker a peace deal.

“You want it put to bed, Gerard, don’t you?” Dowdall asks.

“I don’t want anyone else getting fucking injured,” Hutch responds. 

I’d like it put to bed and I’d like to be able to go out and get these assassins. 

Hutch also references “these three yokes” and saying he wants “them three yokes out of here”. On their way home from the meeting, Dowdall said “I don’t think there’s half a brain between them”, in apparent reference to the people they had met.

Jonathan Dowdall says “we never admitted that that was anything to do with youse at the Regency but obviously we did by giving them the yokes”, and Hutch replies, “yeah he knows, yeah”.

Dowdall, a former Sinn Féin councillor, also says that the men they met had spoken in a particular manner to them and they had “twenty hundred times worse” to the Kinahans.

“Ah yeah, he’d be like Hitler,” Hutch responds.

Dowdall asks Hutch if he’d take the Kinahans’ word in stopping the violence.

“You’d have to,” Hutch said. “For the sake of everyone involved. It’s the best option. Or go to war.”

At one stage, Dowdall talks at length about Sinn Féin and appears to take aim at Mary Lou McDonald and Hutch said the party “try to keep away from dodgy subjects” as they’re in “enough shit” for their stance on the Special Criminal Court, where he is now on trial, and “Slab Murphy and all that”.

On their way back to Dublin, Dowdall punctuates many of the silences and repeatedly emphasises his support for Hutch. 

“Gerard, I’m in this with you to the bleeding death,” he said.

The case continues today.