Kinahan-Hutch feud: Garda chief confident net closing on killers

A senior garda overseeing the investigations into Dublin’s gangland killings is “absolutely confident” the shooters will be caught soon.

Chief supt Pat Leahy, from the Dublin North Central Division, said gardaí had identified all the likely assailants and victims of the gangland violence.

“First and foremost you respond to it and you put whatever you have out there,” he said.

Seven men have been killed in the feud between the Hutch and Kinahan gangs since last September, six of them in the last four months.

The latest victim was killed on Tuesday just 300m from a Garda checkpoint.

Gareth Hutch (35), a taxi driver and father of one, was shot several times close to his flat at Avondale House on North Cumberland Street in Dublin 1.

Supt Leahy said there were specialist Garda units, organised crime and community officers and round-the-clock patrols currently in place.

“These types of investigations are not new to us,” he said.

“They [Garda officers] are totally committed on delivering . . . care to the communities around here. I’m absolutely confident that we will be successful in these investigations . . . sooner rather than later.”

All of murdered people, except one, could be described as Kinahan-on- Hutch murders.

Spain-based outfit

There are believed to be more than 100 extended members of the Hutch family in the area. And even those with no links to criminal activity are in fear of their personal safety as the feud with the Spain-based Kinahan cartel continues.

There have been 3,000 Garda checkpoints and 1,800 street searches for intelligence to date in connection with the feud.

Supt Leahy said if people were intent on killing, there were times it could be difficult to prevent it.

"We all know that you cannot protect everybody all of the time. That's . . . not new to the north of the city or new to Ireland, " he said.

“You can put forward the level of protection on a level commiserate with what you’re faced with. We would accept a lot of the activity is local. We are pursuing that at the moment and there is absolutely an international connection to this.”

Supt Leahy told RTÉ News at One he had “huge confidence” in the investigation outcomes.

"I think people will realise that the Garda Síochána have serious capacity when it comes to responding to incidents like this," he said.

Meanwhile Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan, who is meeting the Police Authority on Thursday, briefed Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald on Wednesday night.

Ms Fitzgerald said the Government was fully committed to backing the Garda in its fight against gangs.

“Whatever resources are needed, and however long it takes, the activities of these gangs and others will be confronted head on,” she said.