GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING the murder of convicted Cork drug dealer Gerard Stanton (41) are keeping an open mind on a claim by the Real IRA that they were responsible for the murder.
The claim of responsibility came from a group claiming to be the 32 Sovereignty Movement who sent a statement on behalf of the Real IRA to the Evening Echo newspaper in Cork in which the group said it had shot Stanton outside his house at Westlawn on January 20th.
“In our last statement, we warned drug dealers to cease their activities but despite several individuals stopping following lengthy interrogation by ourselves, there were those who chose to continue,” said the statement.
“. . . For those who still have a choice to stop today, we ask you to embrace this opportunity or run the risk of suffering the same fate. This was not a once-off and we would like to reiterate that we will strike when we are ready and not when it is expected of us.”
While the Garda are officially saying they cannot discount the claim the Real IRA were responsible for Stanton’s killing, privately some officers are sceptical about its veracity. Garda sources point to the fact the killers used a shotgun rather than a pistol or revolver and that they made their getaway in an 18-year-old Toyota van.
Private Garda scepticism about the Real IRA statement was echoed by a source within the mainstream republican movement who questioned whether the Real IRA in Cork had the capacity to carry out such a killing and described the statement as “opportunistic”.
Meanwhile, Gerard Stanton was buried yesterday at Kilcully Cemetery on Cork’s northside, following Requiem Mass attended by close family and friends.