The head of the An Garda Síochána’s National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau has rejected the characterisation of the force’s investigation of the Regency Hotel attack as a “policing failure” because it did not result in the successful prosecution of any of the gunmen or key organisers.
The attack, during which Kinahan associate David Byrne was shot dead, was followed by a major gangland feud which claimed another 17 lives.
Speaking at a media event organised in advance of the 10th anniversary of the February 5th, 2016, attack, Det Chief Supt Séamus Boland said that as a result of Garda actions since the attack, 98 associates of the Kinahan and Hutch gangs had been successfully prosecuted, 19 of them in relation to murders, 25 in relation to attempted murders and 21 in connection to firearms offences.
In relation to the Regency attack itself, however, Gerry Hutch, known as The Monk, was acquitted by the Special Criminal Court of murder, while the case against Patrick Hutch collapsed during a separate trial. Another man, Kevin Murray, who was pictured leaving the scene while carrying a gun, died of natural causes before he could face trial.
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The Regency Hotel attack and its aftermath
“We don’t see it as a failure,” said Boland, however.
“There still five people have been convicted in relation to serious offences in relation to that murder. There’s one person who wasn’t presented before the courts due to the natural progression of terminal illness, and there are many issues.
“There’s only so much that An Garda Síochána can actually do in relation to an investigation. But I definitely don’t see it as a failure.”
Asked about the suggestion there had been communications failures within the force, with different units failing to keep each other informed of the intelligence they had gathered and that this had hampered main investigation, Boland said the gardaí involved would have made informed decisions as to what information to share.
“I would be quite satisfied that the decisions made were made by people who were highly trained in decision making in high risk situations,” he said.
He said, however, that debriefings take place after all such major cases and there would have been the opportunity to learn from what happened.
He said the Garda faced “an extraordinary task” in the wake of the attack as the feud unfolded but that the force’s response had been “resourced, resourceful and relentless”.
He pointed to the fact that there had been “no organised crime firearms murders during 2025 for the first year in modern times” as “unprecedented and contrary to experiences of countries across Europe.”
He said the force’s efforts to battle organised crime and apprehend those involved, including members of the Kinahan and Hutch gangs continue and “our work is not done until we bring the people who are responsible for this absolute devastation and carnage ... before the courts to face justice”.
